Page "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" Paragraph 1

One of the core arguments of this essay is that, if one can use one's wealth to reduce suffering — for example, by aiding famine-relief efforts — without any significant reduction in the well-being of oneself or others, it is immoral not to do so.

According to Singer, such inaction is clearly immoral if a child is drowning in a shallow pond and someone can save it but chooses not to ; nor does placing greater geographical distance between the person in need and the potential helper reduce the latter's moral obligations: