• Peter Singer
• ABC Fora

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27 April 2009Do we as relatively affluent human beings have a moral duty to give to those who have less than us ? A completely staggering 1.4 billion people around the world live in what's described as "extreme poverty", or with an income of less than US$1.25 a day. This means that they are unable to reliably provide food, shelter, clean water and basic education for themselves or their families. So is it okay for us to nestle down in our big houses with overflowing pantries, wardrobes full of clothes we never wear and a $20,000 audio/visual system?

In his new book, "The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty", Peter Singer argues that really, it's not, and in this talk at Gleebooks he outlines that argument. It's confronting stuff, and the capacity audience takes him to task over some of the finer points in the lively Q and A session. Watch, enjoy, and think about the way you live your life.

Peter Singer splits his time between the Universities of Melbourne and Princeton, where he specialises in ethics. He shot to international prominence with the publication of his 1975 book "Animal Liberation", regarded as the seminal work of the movement. He has written extensively on ethics, with notable titles including "A Darwinian Left" (1999) and "How are we to Live?: Ethics in an Age of Self-Interest" from 1993.