Living Together in One Civilized World: How Luxury Companies and Consumers Can Fulfill Their Ethical Responsibilities to the Poor
33 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2013
Date Written: December 19, 2013
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.
The Article further examines how trademark law should be reformed to foster and promote the ethical responsibilities of luxury companies and consumers. Based on this proposal, it shows how trademark law can play a better social role from the ethical responsibility perspective.
Keywords: Luxury, Poverty, Ethical Crisis, Ethical Responsibility Initiative, Trademarks
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