%0 Journal Article
%T On nationality and global equality: a reply to Holtug
%A David Miller
%J Ethics & Global Politics
%D 2011
%I Co-Action Publishing
%R 10.3402/egp.v4i3.8489
%X I here defend some of the positions taken in National Responsibility and Global Justice against criticisms by Nils Holtug. I reinforce my suggestion that claims about national membership being ¡®morally arbitrary¡¯ are question begging and try to show how such membership can legitimately serve as a source of special obligations. I examine the claim that the problems involved in constructing a ¡®currency¡¯ of global justice also arise in the domestic context and suggest that appealing to ¡®welfare¡¯ as the relevant currency is not a useful way of responding to cultural differences. Finally, I respond to the hypothetical case of an unequally distributed life-extending vitamin by arguing that the discovery of such a substance would change our understanding of a normal human life, and thereby raise the bar of sufficiency.
%K moral arbitrariness
%K obligation
%K national identity
%K global egalitarianism
%K sufficiency
%U http://www.ethicsandglobalpolitics.net/index.php/egp/article/view/8489/11226