Summary of Singer’s Famine, Affluence and Morality
Before reading Singer’s article, I only considered helping the poor as a charity act. However, reading through the article reveals that its main purpose is to demonstrate that giving to alleviate the suffering caused by famine is a moral responsibility. The article articulates the fact that giving to alleviate the suffering caused by famine should be everybody's moral mandate when it does not cause them to suffer like the recipient of the donation. It focuses on the plight of Bengali refugees by highlighting the various reasons to make donations for alleviating their suffering. It was written in November of 1971. During that time, a population of at least nine million people from East Bengal were dying and in dire need of food aid, shelter, and medical aid.
The article discusses several important points, but three main points were distinct. Firsts, Governments are not giving enough to help people in dire need of aid like the Bengal population. For instance, more affluent nations like Australia and Britain have donated a fraction that they spent on luxurious projects. The second key point, emphasizes that not only the governments are obligated to donate but also individuals and private organizations. The lack of individuals to donate makes the government overlook the importance of participating in the donation. The final point is that, as long as the donation does not make one suffer, individuals should not limit their donation to a specific percentage. The donation should be guided by the principle that all humans are morally obligated to fight what is bad. In general, the article uses the three main points to encourage everyone to have a moral responsibility of helping the needy.
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The last potion of the article, states the need for people to consider the philosophy of helping the needy whenever they have extra. It emphasizes the need for individuals not to be bound by policy but rather act on the obvious fact that famine brings suffering. The discussion has made me realize the importance of me prioritizing alleviation of suffering caused by famine over luxurious expenditure.
Summary of Garrett’s Lifeboat Ethics: the Case against Helping the Poor
Before reading Garrett Hardin's Lifeboat ethics I believed that helping by donating to alleviate poverty solved the problem. However, the article points out that donations to the poor do not address the main problem. It emphasizes that the act of donating to the poor postpones the problem resulting in a recurrent and more serious dependency for future generations. The article focuses on refuting the spaceship ethics. In place, it presents the lifeboat ethics. The discussion addresses the failure of different policies and organizations that have been formulated to help the poor. It gives examples of the world food program, and migration policies.
The article presents various important points. However, three main points stood out. The first main point is that life is best analogized as a lifeboat rather than a space ship. As such, giving up space or accommodating more people in distress means jeopardizing the safety of all the people in the lifeboat. Secondly, a system of helping out the poor is not viable because of the tragedy of the common good. Items that are considered the common good are prone to exploitation by selfish individuals that ruin them. Thus, no individuals feel responsible to maintain them for the betterment of everyone else. Finally, there is a collective need to address the real problems that include population control and policy formulation. When the rich nations help out the poor nation, poor nations increase their population and enhance dependency. Similarly, their lack of putting in place policies against emergency enhances dependencies. As such, the rich countries should limit helping and allowing emigrants to tame population exceeding the environment. The article uses three points to encourage people to consider lifeboat ethics.
In summary, the article advises people that people need to consider the lifeboat ethics when helping. It emphasizes that to secure the future, it is not late to put in place the radical change because of the different rates of production. The article has given me a different perspective of establishing the root cause of a problem instead of offering an emergency solution that is likely to cause more problems in the future.
References
Hardin, G. (1974). Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor by Garrett Hardin - The Garrett Hardin Society - Articles . Garretthardinsociety.org. Retrieved 2 January 2021, from https://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_lifeboat_ethics_case_against_helping_poor.html.
Singer, P. (1972). Famine, Affluence, and Morality. Philosophy And Public Affairs , 1 (3), 229-243. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2265052?seq=1 .
