...Poverty affects almost all Americans at some point in their lives, and many would say that they just needed a little help and they could’ve made it from there. In the “Singer Solution to World Poverty,” an article that appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics, calls attention to the urgent need for food and medicine in many parts of the world. Singer argues that prosperous people should donate to overseas aid organizations such as UNICEF of Oxfam America all money not needed for the basic requirements of life. “The formula is simple: whatever money you’re spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away.” Singer’s solution can help some people in some situations, but it can’t help everyone. There are many instances where donations of money given to people would help immediately and there are rich people that can support many families. However, I don’t believe that people in poverty should be given handouts, there are people that wouldn’t necessarily benefit from donations, and if the rich are controlling all donations they have more power than our government. I believe that some money should be given to help create jobs in our country, and instead of donations being used for funds it should be the tax money from all the people....
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...In “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”, Peter Singer describes how the American consumer is in moral denial because of our failure to donate money that could save a child’s life from starvation, mal nutrition, or treatable diseases. In his article he highlights how we are not fully considering what in our lives is a luxury and what is a necessity. Another interesting concept Singer has is his actual solution to world poverty, which basically describes people donating any money not spent on necessities to charities. Although, I am in line with the fact that the U.S. consumer has been brainwashed into thinking they are purchasing necessities and have shown a lack of judgment for understanding when they are purchasing necessities versus when they are purchasing luxuries, I do not agree that is a reason to give away all of your extra income to charities around the world. This is an extremely unrealistic amount that does not align with how a large population of our society thinks about personal wealth. The words need and want are used interchangeably in American culture and this causes us to trick ourselves into believing we should be buying unnecessary items. For example, even when we are speaking about things we want, we often say we need them because it highlights how badly we want that item. Things that you want could give you a goal to work towards, but when you think about things that you need you are liable to feel bad about yourself or less than others if you do not have...
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...Distribution of wealth has plagued the world since the conception of countries and nation-states. The world’s first cultural centers such as Mesopotamia and Greece harbored rancid poverty along with unbridled riches, and the effect was decidedly negative. The lack of a middle class bred resentment, and the accepted duality of the system made escaping the cycle of poverty a futile goal. In his piece, “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” Singer challenges the world to attack this inequality, and compels the fortunate population to give away money usually spent on luxuries. Exorbitant displays of wealth have no place in an international climate where entire communities are unable to find nourishment, drinking water, and medical care, and...
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...Prosperity can be achieved through acts of giving rather than keeping for yourself. In “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”, Peter Singer reveals the urgent need for food and medical supplies around the world. His solution to this problem is that instead of people spending their money on items that are not necessary to have and instead spending it on supplies to send to other cities, states, or countries to help those who struggle to live each day. There are so many things in life that we spend money on but never use although we believe that they are necessary to our “survival”, when there are so many other people who are not even sure if they are going to live to see the next day. Many studies show that the main reason that people do not...
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...summarized are Jan Narveson’s article “Feeding the Hungry” and Peter Singer’s article “Singer Solution to The World.” This paper will also discuss utilitarianism and virtue ethics and how individually each article ties into both ethical theories. In the article Singer Solution to World Poverty, Peter Singer offers a solution to world poverty. Singers solution is clear-cut and precise. Singer claims that to successfully end world poverty, whatever money not spent on necessities and devoted to luxuries, should be given away to those less fortunate. To pull at the reader's emotions, throughout the text Singer uses hypothetical pathos scenarios to deliver an overall theme of sacrifice. Singer opens up the text...
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...approximately 2% of disposable income to charity in 2014, a percentage which has not changed significantly in decades, regardless of the strength of the economy.” This is a deplorable amount considering the US has one of the highest disposable incomes per citizen. In Peter Singer’s essays “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” and “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” he makes the argument that people are morally obligated to help someone as long as they are not put in a morally compromising position. Singer’s argument is valid because people have the means to help others they just feel like they have to keep up with the latest trends. If people were to donate a portion of the money they spent on luxuries each month then the amount of suffering people who are not able to provide for themselves would dissipate....
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...Poverty Poverty has been a consistent problem throughout history. No matter what the average income, unemployment or overall prosperity level is, there will always be people who are homeless and hungry. Despite being one of the most richest countries in the world, the United States is not immune to it either. Even today, there are still people struggling to find shelter, feed their kids and find warm clothing. This social problem has various impacts on different institutions and people. However, there are feasible solutions that are available to dissolve this social problem. In discussing poverty in the United States, I will be utilizing three major perspectives: the general condition, the emerging middle class poverty and the relationship between small businesses and strategic measures to eradicate poverty. According to Howard Glennerster in United States Poverty Studies and Poverty Measurement: The past twenty five years, poverty has been a steady condition in United States history. Not only that, but today there is even more discussion focused on the “culture and race of poverty” (Glennerster, 10). More and more aid seems to be going to minorities in which there is a high density. Moreover, the attention has also been placed on women on welfare. This segment of the population has retracted to working multiple jobs while taking care of children (Glennerster, 13). Therefore, in the mainstream sense of the term, Glennerster attributed a majority poverty related issues to minorities...
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...Famous Thinkers Paper Peter Singer Peter Singer was born on July 6th 1946 in Australia. His family escaped Austria during the World War II from Nazis. Most of his relatives died in Nazi camps because they were Jews. Singer is considered to be one of the most influencing living thinkers however he was also called as the best-known vegetarian, and the most dangerous man in the World. He received death threats because of his beliefs and opinions. As he said in an interview for Policy Innovation, his main aim is to reduce unnecessary suffering in the World (Ethics Matter: A Conversation with Peter Singer, 2011). As Peter Singer stated himself “why I have focused on those issues, because I think, as a utilitarian philosopher rather than an expert in particular issues, I can make a contribution (Ethics Matter: A Conversation with Peter Singer, 2011). Peter Singer is known to be one of the most important supporters of Preference Utilitarianism, which in other words mean: “An action is right if it maximally furthers the interests of those affected by it” (Sloane, 1999, p. 53). Among his most controversial and best-known arguments are linked to the world poverty, animal rights, infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia. As a reason for becoming vegetarian and the notion of argument about animal rights was as Singer states an ordinary lunch with his friend who happened to be vegetarian and he presented to him the issue of factory farming ("Peter Singer '07: Animal Rights", 2011). His...
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...Poverty is the lack of funds to pay for basic needs. The lack of basic needs in which are used to survive means this is a problem with debatable solutions. Peter Singer has initiated an argument over the solution to poverty in what he and many others feel is a suitable course of action. Peter’s argument is this “The formula is simple: whatever money you’re spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away”. This would have everyone in the world not in poverty donating one third of all wealth to poverty, as that is the average percentage of money spent on luxuries per the average family or person. The pros of this argument would be equalization of the economy and the curing of poverty. The cons of Peter Singer’s argument are taking...
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...Today poverty remains one of the biggest issues in the world. A child dies of hunger every five seconds and millions of people are suffering from starvation. In his solution to world poverty, Professor Peter Singer proposes that those who have money to buy luxurious goods ought to spend it instead on other peoples’ necessities; no money should be spent on fancy clothes or cars, new television sets, etc. This solution both has its positive and negative aspects. Its positive aspect is Singer’s pictured outcome of his plan—that more lives of starving children would be saved, and its negative aspects lie in the plan’s unsound premises and possible consequences. Although I appreciate Singer’s altruistic pursuit, the solution is far too unrealistic to be put into effect. The idea of the Singer Solution is indeed benevolent, that is, if it is within one’s ability, one should help those in need as much as possible. Singer presents moral issue by raising the concern that innocent beings are dying from hunger around the world, while people from developed countries are pouring money into luxuries simply for pleasure. It could be argued that those people value superficial substances over lives of children. Thus, they fail to live up to their moral obligations. Furthermore, the money donated to charitable agencies could make a life-or-death difference to children in need. Since about 80 percent of the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day, even a donation considered small...
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...28 April 2013 How to dispose of disposable income Is it possible to end world hunger by sending your disposable income to a charitable organization? Is it immoral to spend your disposable income on services and items that are not necessities? Do we really need to “shop till we drop” or is there another way? A way for the informed consumer to make responsible spending decisions instead of unrealistic forced “giving” or the equally unrealistic short sighted over spending common in today’s society. Peter Singer thinks the whole process of spending your disposable income on anything other than the necessities is an immoral act. In his article The Singer Solution to World Poverty, Mr. Singer tells us a story about Bob and his failure to save a child stuck on the railroad tracks by diverting an oncoming train. If he diverts the train it will spare the child but destroy his prized possession, a very old and valuable car. Bob does not throw the switch. Mr. Singer states “Bob’s conduct, most of us will immediately respond, was gravely wrong” (Singer 61). He goes on to say “If you still think that it was very wrong of Bob not to throw the switch that would have diverted the train and saved the child’s life, then it is hard to see how you could deny that it is also very wrong not to send money to UNICEF or Oxfam America.” (Singer 61). In making these statements Mr. Singer is telling us that our failure to freely support these charitable organizations is equivalent to not throwing the...
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...Singer approaches the problem of famine from a utilitarian standpoint. His argument is that it is the responsibility of humans who have the means to relieve persons affected by famine. The effort must be of more importance than material possessions and personal interest. This must also be done without consideration of locality or the moral responsibility of others. O’Neill faces a little more difficulty because she presents her argument from a Kantian standpoint, which theoretically is based on intention and not action, because of this O’Neill focuses her response on treating those afflicted justly. Using Kant’s categorical imperative O’Neill establishes the obligation-to both-not interfere with the rights of plighted individuals by not using...
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...Munachonga Banji David St. Aubin PHL 102-004 November 10, 2016 Commentary In the essays “Famine, Affluence and Morality” by Peter Singer and “Poverty and Parenthood” by Stuart Rachel, both authors argue on their different viewpoint of what is morally right when it comes to preventing suffering and what hinders us to prevent or reduce that suffering. They both agree that donation to charity to reduce suffering is a short term solution, while reducing the population on the planet is a permeant solution to the suffering of starvation. They argue that it is our individual duty to make reasonable choices that will help prevent the suffering, but their view on what these choices are differs. In his essay, Perter Singer argues that affluent nations have the duty to prevent avoidable poverty and death in poorer nations. He states that our negative actions towards the suffering caused by poverty and death are not justifiable. By ignoring the suffering, we as a society are taking life for...
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...In Peter Singer’s paper on “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” he explores the possibilities of each and every American giving up about 2/3 of their income. However, rather than simply talking about his own solution as another theory, he tells the reader in so many words that they are wrong. In this paper, I will argue that Singer fails to establish that we are morally required to give to charity. In Peter Singer’s paper he makes the claim that we ought to give up any surplus money we might have and send it to places like Bengal to prevent people from suffering or dying. However, is this really something we are obligated to do? Peter Singer relies on two main principles that help him establish his conclusion. The first principle state that, “…suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad” and that “if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable more importance, we ought, morally, to do it” (605). The first principle is most likely unable to be refuted as almost everyone can agree that suffering and death has nothing to do with good. Now the second principle can be explained by the example Singer gives that if you were in a situation where you were walking past a pond and see a child drowning you ought to pull the child out resulting in wet or muddy clothes, which in no means outweighs the death of a child. In other words, preventing something bad will always compensate ruining a...
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...Moral Guilt T PHI 208 January 7, 2013 Peter Singer’s goal in “Famine, Affluence and Morality” was to try and to get people all around the world to realize that they, as human beings, have a moral responsibility to help other human beings in need if they can. He argues that the way we view moral issues and our moral conceptual schemes need to be altered, and in fact the whole way in which our society takes our way of life for granted. Peter Singer’s argument is that “if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it”. (Singer, 1972). He believes that everyone in similar circumstances as himself should give as much as possible, up to the point that they might also be at risk of poverty themselves. He argues that if everyone in society all across the world did this, that the world would not only solve the Bengal crisis, but would also end world hunger all together. That also by not contributing to helping people suffering from tragedies we are not being morally responsible as a race to our “global village”. Counter points to Peter Singer’s argument that he makes are as follows: First he states that the view that he has taken on the Bengal crisis and world hunger may seem “too drastic a revision of our moral scheme”. (Singer, 1972). That in fact people would not judge other people in the way that he suggests they should, that they would save their judgment for people...
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