my interest in ethics

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/opinion/01kristof.html
"The Evil Behind the Smiles"
by Nicholas Kristof
December 31, 2008
The New York Times

In the article, Kristof describes the practice of child / sex slavery in Cambodia.

Consider also:
http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/1972----.htm
"Famine, Affluence, and Morality"
by Peter Singer
1972
Philosophy and Public Affairs

Consider also:
http://endlessrecombination.blogspot.com/2008/12/kingdom-of-night.html

For most of the time I've spent discussing ethics, I've maintained a sense that the answers, in many case, are blindingly obvious. It's almost perverse that we have to argue about whether or not to save those who are suffering from starvation, torture, and rape. And I get the impulse to just grab and shake those who disagree.

Part of my interest in ethics involves realizing that this is not a productive impulse. Part of my interest in ethics involves trying to figure out how to get a grip on people who can't see their obligations - how to help them see what's going on. (As Korsgaard says, it is not the strength of our convictions (the volume of our voices) that will convince others).

The other part involves the thought that while saving the drowning baby is a pretty clear-cut case, it represents a certain subset of moral matters, what we might call "material threats to agency." I'm of the opinion (though I think it is important to figure out how to justify this, for reasons I discuss above) that we are all pretty thoroughly obligated to do something about such threats, such as starvation, torture, and rape.

But beyond that, it's really hard to figure out how to lead good lives. And that's something I'd like to do.