Ethics, Globalization, and the Millennium Development Goals: What Can One Person Do?
Presentation by John Hammock, Ph.D.

January 29, 2006
Summary by Janet Wahl

John Hammock dedicated his career to eradicating poverty, hunger, and war. He serves as Associate Professor of Public Policy at Tufts University and as Chair of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation. He was the founder and director of the Feinstein International Famine Center at Tufts, former President of Oxfam America, and former Executive Director of ACCION International. On January 29, 2006, in Reidy Friendship Hall at 11:15 a.m., Dr. Hammock summarized his main message: We need to step back and take the long view. We need to sow seeds to lay foundations to attain the UN Millennium Development Goals. We cannot do everything; we are workers and not master builders.

The UN Millennium Development Goals embrace the big picture of what needs to be done in the world:

  1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

  2. Achieve universal primary education.

  3. Promote gender equality and empower women.

  4. Reduce child mortality.

  5. Improve maternal health.

  6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

  7. Ensure environmental sustainability.

  8. Develop a global partnership for development.

Although these goals are doable -- we have the technology to eradicate hunger -- there is not enough political will to allocate those resources where they are needed.

How, then, can these goals be realized? Handouts and donations are not the answer. Rather, local control and ownership must be developed.

Given these facts, what can we individuals do? Individual change can both change others and, in turn, change the world. For example, we need to be more reflective, to be centered in who we are. We need to express change every day and to take time for other individuals whom we may have ignored as we rush about our daily activities. We need to simplify our lives: Get rid of stuff that we don’t need. Don’t buy things we don’t need. Purchasing is a power: We can buy organic products, take our own bags to the supermarket to avoid the proliferation of plastic that ruins the environment, and purchase fairly traded items. Doing all this will take time and a little research.

On a broader level, we can examine what we do with our time. Is our job a match for our souls? How do we spend our free time? Can we volunteer? Since there are different answers for different life stages, we need to give ourselves permission to think about this continually.

We must choose our battles; choose the activities in which we can make a difference. If we donate, we must examine the philosophy and operations of the agency we give to. We must determine who is running the large organizations: What does their budget support? How much advocacy do they do?

Although we are “little” people, when many of us “little” people focus our activities, we can contribute significantly to the achievement of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.