Peter Singer's A True Pandemic: Poverty

A True Pandemic; Poverty Most people may agree that money donated is money that is reaching the impoverished and making a difference. For instance, they might point out that no matter which donation box you drop the dollar into it is helping someone regardless. They have a point, after all, donated money is donated money. But this argument does not provide a solution to climbing poverty rates and statistics all over the world. Poverty is a widespread problem lacking awareness among today’s society. “Of the 49 least developed countries, 31 receive less aide today than they did in 1990” (“Facts”). As the world poverty statistics increase, government aide and attention vanishes. “During the 1990s, government development assistance dropped from

This much is true. As seen in a video highlighting the Jennings School District, their superintendent Dr. Tiffany Anderson has been identified as one woman who completely changed the lives of the impoverished students in her area. She advocates for these children and uses the school as a place where they have access to everything they need (“How”). This is a direct parallel to Singer’s solution. Dr. Anderson has donated her time and resources to give these children the things they need to succeed in their education and lives thereafter. Just as Singer has suggested the general public should do with their money. If we were to donate our money as she has her resources, the money would help millions to get on their feet. However, when it comes to poverty and relying on large sums of donated money, we need more than just the action of money being donated. We need structure, and without it we have money that is not distributed properly. The Giving Pledge was a plan created by Bill Gates and Warren buffet that encouraged their fellow billionaires to donate large sums of their income to charity (“Warren”). German billionaire Peter Kramer was one of many to meet this plan with criticism. He explains how it is the responsibility of the state to take care of widespread problems such as poverty. He also went on to criticise the structure of how said donations should be given. Kramer evaluates in his reaction to The Giving pledge

In this case we will go with everything that is not food, water, shelter, and clothing. With this established we can see that Peter Singer lacks a crucial point of view that the rest of us are very much aware of. As life is notorious for throwing curve balls we naturally tend to save money for things like college, unexpected/emergency funds, and retirement. And Singer is asking us to forsake this and to put all of that money into charity to improve the world. As I have mentioned before I would like to point out, again, how oversimplified this plan proves to be. Without determining what a luxury is, to what extent we donate our money, and how to organize the money this solution will be met with criticism and confusion. The general public cannot be expected to give away all of their hard earned money to reduce poverty rates to such an extent that it affects them negatively. A document that introduces the many burdens of paying for college talks about how for most families the primary contributor for a child’s college tuition are the parents. After conceding that taking out student loans is an option suitable for some, they go on to explain the sizable amount of debt that most people run into after paying for college. “Other sacrifices made by parents include taking a second job, postponing retirement, and taking out personal loans or second mortgages. Many critics have also argued that