Giving money away is often termed generous. But if being generous means sacrificing a great deal, then I do not qualify. If anything, doing this has richly rewarded me, not just with ideas and insights, but also with bonds to some of the most important people in my life. People who work quietly, often at great risk, often at great cost to them and those they love, people who resist the misplaced value society places on fame and wealth as markers of talent or even virtue. Such people are some of the most fulfilled people I know. They remind me of a quote from a writer whose work I admire, Katherine Mansfield: “Risk! Risk anything! Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.”

In one of my first college classes, a philosophy class on how to objectively ascertain right or wrong, some argued, on a logical basis there was no such thing as moral truth. In response, our professor had us do a simple thought experiment: if we were about to be born into the world, not knowing anything about our gifts of talent and status and family and community, in what kind of society would we choose to live? It is in this spirit, where justice is based directly on the intrinsic and equal value of other people’s lives that I both happily and humbly join in the Giving Pledge.