Sir, - Vincent Browne rightly reminds us (October 11th) that moral blindness "hasn't gone away, you know". But in one respect, he is off the mark. Correcting the obscene disparities in global wealth does not require us in the rich countries to sacrifice our living standard. The global economy is not a zero-sum game.
Much of the degrading poverty in Africa and elsewhere is due to the failure, or refusal, of rich countries to allow the poor to earn their own living. Despite the free-market rhetoric, we in Europe and North America systematically keep out the goods that poor countries can produce efficiently.
Food is the most obvious. For example, we refuse to buy tropical cane sugar, even though it is about six times cheaper than European beet sugar. We are, of course, happy to buy raw cocoa from the Ivory Coast because we can't grow it ourselves. But the more it is processed into chocolate the more import duties we pile on. There is an obvious connection between this denial of the ability to earn a living and the prevalence of poverty.
Mr Browne is correct in pointing to the importance of getting our institutional arrangements - in this case for agricultural trade - to work properly. Hence the significance of Ireland's accession to the UN security council. For, if ever a set of institutions were failing the world, especially the poorest and weakest among us, it is the UN.
The action needed to abolish "moral blindness" in the world today must come from our global institutions, in particular the UN - and the great powers that stand in its shadows. Traditional Irish moral vigour, and our new vitality and creativity, must now be used to renew the UN family of institutions and make them once again relevant. The quarter of the globe living in degrading poverty demand it - Yours, etc.
Dr Brian Scott, Executive Director, Oxfam Ireland, Burgh Quay, Dublin 2.