Why should I care about human rights?
Slavery Today
People have the conception of slavery as something from the past. Sadly this isn't true and this article explains the modern face of slavery.
The Rwandan massacres
The massacres in Rwanda were an event that touched me deeply, and taught me much about the world. Here are a couple of good summary articles about why the west should also learn from them.
My pacifism is not based on any intellectual theory but on a deep antipathy to every form of cruelty and hatred
Humanity
"A Moral History of the Twentieth Century". The enormity of this book and the relevance of the questions it asks almost makes it a duty as a member of society to have read it. It transcends questions about whether it was good (which it was), in that it is absolutely necessary. Perhaps many of us don't like to read about uncomfortable things, and this book is full of them, but sometimes we have to momentarily put aside our immediate desires and play our part as a member of society in the human story.