As far as I can tell, Toby Ord is not wearing a hair shirt under his nice overcoat. But then he isn't as worthy as I expected. A moral philosopher, Ord has pledged a third of his £30,000 salary as a research associate at Oxford University this year to charity, and will give away 10% for the rest of his working life. "I worked out my total future earnings would be around £1.5m," he says, as we sit on a bench under a horse chestnut tree. "I worked out how much I would need to live on and I realised I could give away £1m without missing out."
He wants you to join him. On Saturday, Ord, 30, launched his society, Giving What We Can, to encourage others to give 10% of their income away. Type your salary into its calculator, and it might tell you that you are among the richest 1% of the world's population (if you earn more than £24,000, or, as Ord puts it: "We are all millionaires compared with those living on a dollar a day and we can prevent untold suffering if only we choose to").
I suppose it is a case of priorities. The society's website quotes UN estimates that £28bn could provide water, sanitation, basic education, nutrition and healthcare for the world's poorest people – the same amount Europeans and Americans spend on perfume and pet food annually. What treats will Ord forego? He says he wants an iPhone, but other than that can't think of much. "The things I gain most from – spending time with my wife, with friends, listening to beautiful music, reading beautiful books – don't cost money."
But if everyone stopped spending, wouldn't our economy collapse? "In ethics, there's this idea by Immanuel Kant: 'What if everyone did it?' But it sometimes is a bit irrelevant. Not everyone is going to sign up."
And he is the first to admit that his lifestyle makes his pledge easier. He doesn't have children or elderly relatives and his wife earns a good salary as a junior doctor (though she has pledged to donate too). But what if your passion is Christian Louboutin shoes, or illuminated manuscripts? "Absolutely. Other people might be making a much harder sacrifice."
Studies show that helping others enhances one's own wellbeing, so this isn't entirely altruistic. "It's the least I can do," says Ord. "I am motivated by helping people."
