Living Together in One Civilized World: How Luxury Companies and Consumers Can Fulfill Their Ethical Responsibilities to the Poor

Abstract

This Article presents the stark contrast between the different worlds of luxury and poverty as a lens through which we can see the existence of an ethical crisis in our society. It offers a proposal to tackle this crisis. The Article argues for the creation of an “ethical responsibility initiative” that requires luxury companies to take on an ethical responsibility to actively disseminate information about the plight of human life under absolute poverty. Each luxury company would be required to hand out a brochure containing information about a poor child and how people can help him or her when the company sells their products to a customer. The Article will show that the dissemination of information of that kind through luxury brands would encourage luxury merchandisers and consumers to engage in moral deliberation about the stark contrast between the rich and the poor and the roots of social injustice.