Wealthy Nations Have A Moral Obligation to Educate Poor Nations

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The most substantial and important ethical problem of the 21st century will be the correction of the vast and undeniable imbalance of the possession and consumption of the world’s material, economic, and cultural resources. In this paper, I will argue that the primary long-term moral obligation the world’s over-privileged have to the underprivileged is to provide those in need with the means necessary to develop a foundation for fair future interactions. This will lead to the idea that a necessary part of the long-term obligation to the underprivileged, in addition to the redistribution of economic and material resources, is the redistribution of ideas and knowledge through philanthropic educational programs.

The principle I will use to motivate my argument for the obligation of the world’s over-privileged to adopt powerful programs of redistribution is, in my view, extremely difficult to deny. The consequences of this principle, however, will doubtless be met with opposition. For, the action to which these arguments call the world’s most affluent directly challenges these individuals’ and nations’ levels of affluence, comfort, and personal satisfaction. In addition, admitting that the world’s over-privileged are obligated to allow and administer the redistribution of ideas and knowledge leads to a number of difficult theoretical and practical challenges.

First, I will consider how a strong commitment to educational redistribution seems to come into conflict with dominant ideas on intellectual property. Second, I will consider our conception of the rights of individuals to the obedience of conscience and in what cases, if any this right could change or limit the demands of justice. Finally, I will consider how taking the ...

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... are obligated to teach the underprivileged about economic or political practices which the over-privileged themselves do not completely understand. An inevitable part of this process, then, is the creation of practices and standards compatible with the general demands of morality. In my view however, the burden of this task should not rest solely upon the shoulders of the over-privileged. Conveniently, those who would be the main beneficiaries of educational redistribution possess knowledge essential to the creation of improved practices and standards. So, the obligation to educate is also to a large extent, an obligation to cooperate with, and learn from, those in need. The development of such practices and standards is how I believe taking this argument seriously could build a foundation for the creation of new kinds of international cooperation and understanding.

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