This brings us back to Toby Ord. First, his organization and its members are proof that human nature and social responsibility are not mutually exclusive, and that people are certainly able—though perhaps not predisposed—to engage in meaningful voluntary altruistic activity. Second, we should note that Giving What We Can states openly that its members commit “to give 10% of their income to the most effective charities they can find,” as measured by the number of “Disability-Adjusted Life Years” preserved by their donations. One wonders what our society might look like if all social welfare provision were as rational, efficient, and accountable as this.

The argument that “libertarianism is unworkable due to human nature” is a case of outdated cultural prejudices failing to catch up with the spirit of the age. The idea that a lumbering centralized state is necessary for the protection of the working class is the consequence of using an antiquated theory outside its proper context, of examining 21st-century problems through a 19th-century lens, and those who employ it are blinded to liberal possibilities for a fairer, freer, and more prosperous society. To be sure, though, if anything like a libertarian state is ever going to work, it will need many more people like Toby Ord.