Pogge vs. Risse-- who is right?

While reading the commentary by Pogge, "Responsibilities for Poverty-Related Illnesses", I found myself agreeing with a couple of points that Pogge was making. I believe that he had a point in saying that there is greater moral weight in helping others in instances where we have some kind of material involvement. I agreed with this point only when he mentioned it in the context of helping someone who was hurt directly as a result of our actions. I, however, also felt that he took it too far by saying that persons involved with upholding the economic institutions [those that govern ownership, production, use and exchange of natural resources, goods and services]are materially involved and are thus permitting the medical injustices between rich and poor to continue.


Though it is a known fact that poverty is correlated with overall health, I do believe that is unfair to place the blame entirely on our economic institutions. Pogge did have a point in saying that we as citizens are somewhat responsible for this because we elect the very politicians that shape our economic institutions. Perhaps if we were not selfish and cared more about taking care of less advantaged individuals in our society, we would elect those that would work to eliminate poverty and health deficits. Though there were some good points, I do believe that Pogge's arguments seemed somewhat scattered and as though he was trying to blame anyone and everyone for current health care injustices.


I personally agreed more with the commentary by Risse, "Do we owe the Global Poor Assistance or Rectification" which basically credited economic institutions and the global order with considerable improvements over the last 200 years. Pogge seemed to focus more on his negative perceptions of the global order, while Risse focused on all the good that it has done for most, if not all, societies.

Over the last 200 years, there have been vast improvements in medical advancements, life expectancy, literacy rates, per capita income and infant mortality rates. I believe that this is a fact that should not be ignored when questioning whether or not our health care system is "unfair". Though our current health care system is far from perfect, I believe that it is unfair to blame the global order for this problem. I agree with Pogge in that we should feel some moral weight in trying to resolve this problem, but I also agree with Risse in that we need to realize that progress is being made.