Charity or death

Peter Singer's famous essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" (PDF here) argues that charity is a moral imperative. He makes a strong case. The quality of philosophical arguments against this demandingness objection are best summarized by SMBC:

I'm reminded of Godwin's The Cold Equations. Uncomfortable feelings aside, math is math. I've read disparaging sneers about utilitarian ethics, but maximizing the number of lives saved seems pretty straightforwardly good.

For a little more info on effective altruism:
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