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On the lottery of life

New books on the merits of philanthropy
by
December 2020, no. 427

The Tyranny of Merit: What’s become of the common good? by Michael J. Sandel

Allen Lane, $35 pb, 288 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg by Paul Vallely

Bloomsbury, $50 hb, 768 pp

On the lottery of life

New books on the merits of philanthropy
by
December 2020, no. 427

Save the Children in Stockholm wanted to highlight the unfair distribution of global wealth, so it invented an online game called The Lottery of Life. This invited Swedes to a website to spin the wheel of chance. If you were born again tomorrow, where would you appear?

Not in Sweden, it turns out. The chances of being born into this safe, healthy nation, where most children grow to be healthy adults with comfortable circumstances, prove vanishingly small – about 0.08 percent, to be precise. Instead, most babies emerge in poor, populous nations and confront medical and economic challenges that are rare in the West. Seventy per cent of newborns around the world face significant risk of poverty or violence. If you are fortunate enough to be born in Sweden, suggested Save the Children, you should support those who are less fortunate.

Glyn Davis reviews 'The Tyranny of Merit: What’s become of the common good?' by Michael J. Sandel and 'Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg' by Paul Vallely

The Tyranny of Merit: What’s become of the common good?

by Michael J. Sandel

Allen Lane, $35 pb, 288 pp

Book 2 Cover Small (400 x 600)

Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg

by Paul Vallely

Bloomsbury, $50 hb, 768 pp

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