Improving the Present

Abstract

An influential set of arguments defends policies of global redistribution as a response to the currently existing unjust global order. Thomas Pogge argues that this order actively harms the poor, and that the appropriate response is to tax citizens of wealthy countries to redistribute resources. The authors agree that a number of elements of the global order are unjust, such as resource and borrowing privileges, and ought to be reformed. However, Pogge’s desired redistributive conclusions require implausible assumptions about responsibility and globalization. The chapter turns to a more promising proposal to fix the problems surrounding natural resources, offered by Leif Wenar. While this proposal would be an improvement over the status quo, it still invokes a seriously problematic notion of collective ownership of natural resources. The best approach remains to treat individuals as the owners of their private property, and protect them in the freedoms for which this book argues.