If you have not already, check out my blog post Ignorance Causes Inaction on Poverty. Please post a comment on that blog post in this thread.

You can provide your own answers to the questions asked in the blog post: How do we inspire people to take action against poverty? Why the inaction? Why do we not end poverty? Why does the average person not do more to help eradicate poverty?

Do you agree with me that ignorance causes the inaction?

Firstly, I'm certainly not saying we 'should' end poverty. That would be a moral statement. I'm an amoralist. We each do what we want to do, which is what we think will get us what we want and make us happy. Either we are successful at getting what we want; Or unluckiness, stupidity, ignorance or some other type of mistake leads us to failure and unhappiness.

Anyway, a lot of the response to my question, why do we not do more to reduce poverty, seems to be in the form of a question itself: "Why would we?" It's as if I was asking something where the motivation and benefits are not obvious. If I asked, "why do we not each get up and do 20 jumping jacks and then drink battery acid," then I would expect others to respond, "why would we?"

I have written a new blog post along the same lines. I have phrased the question in a way that points out the obvious motivation to help others and the inconsistency of our inaction. In this new blog post, entitled Why Do We Behave Like Sociopaths, I essentially ask and provide my answers to the questions: We're not sociopaths, so why do we behave like sociopaths when it comes to poverty? When it costs less than a buck a day to save the lives of children, why don't we when it would make us happier than we are now?

What do you think?

I am using the term sociopath to mean what I always have believed it to mean in a scientifically psychological sense, which is one who does not feel empathy. It is a very abnormal condition. Most of us feel empathy and sympathy for others. Helping others makes us happy, and seeing others in pain makes us unhappy.