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Analysis Of The Singer Solution To World Poverty By Peter Singer

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In “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” by Peter Singer, he argues that if the money not spent on necessities of life were donated, “that money could be the difference between life and death for children in need.” He makes note of the fact that so much of our income is spent on things that are not essential to life, and that if we were to donate the money we did not have to spend, we would help many children in need. Singer gives many theoretical examples such as, a Brazilian woman giving away a child whom she knows is going to be killed, just to get $1,000 that she spent on a new TV. Another example would be, Bob having the choice between a train smashing his Bugatti or killing a kid who doesn’t hear the train, and Bob decides to save his car and not the kid. Singer states that although those actions may have seemed awful, we Americans do the same, just without having it directly in front of us like Bob and the Brazilian woman did. If we were to donate $200 we would be able to save one child’s life, and for the average American, $200 is still not a large donation compared to what they could afford. …show more content…

Singer used this great example, a household bringing in $50,000 a year, spends roughly around $30,000 on necessities alone, leaving $20,000 that could be donated; therefore stating, “Again, the formula is simple: Whatever money you’re spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given

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In Singer’s “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” he argues the importance of donation to poor people, which could mean the difference between life and death for children in need. He gives an example for Bob, who has an opportunity to save a child’s life, but he could lose his worthy car. He makes a comparison between people who are capable to donate money to save children lives and people who have no chance to help or donate under certain situation such as Bob. He also encourages people who are in the middle class to donate at a minimum of 200$; furthermore, he thinks that people should donate more like 200.000$ when they consider the level of sacrifice that they would demand of Bob’s situation. He gives some estimates for the amount of donations that people should give to overseas.

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By providing a specific number, $200, Singer demonstrates how simple and reasonable it is to save a child in poverty. Additionally, he repeats, “to save a child’s life,” which demonstrates exactly what a $200 donation could do for a child in poverty. As an example, Singer references a credible philosopher, Peter Unger, and acknowledges that “by his calculation, $200 in donations would help a sickly 2-year-old transform into a healthy 6-year-old.” Next, he establishes, “if you were to give up dining out just for one month, you would easily save that amount.” Singer emphasizes this to show the reader how simple it is to save $200, and, more importantly, save the life of a helpless child.

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I also agree with the fact that many people do step down from helping in any situation if they see someone give too much money, when they can only give a little embarrassing amount. Instead of that other person helping they are really damaging others from getting help. If everyone just gave or helped a little that would be enough for everyone else to see and to feel guilt for not stepping in and it would also cross out others stating that they do not have much to give; if in case everyone gave a reasonable amount that no one could not afford. For Singer it was about keeping your morals in place and that one ought to do what is known to be the right thing to do. To help in any way possible and in doing so the world would be very different and there would be less

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Peter Singer argues that prosperous people should donate their excess money to the overseas aid groups. When saying this, he believes Americans should stop spending their money on luxuries such as a TV, a computer, a car, and videogames. Instead of spending money on items such as that, he thought we should start sending money to those who are starving in other countries and need our help. There are pros and cons to Singer’s argument and both can be greatly supported.

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Singer is no stranger to writing moral arguments, having written many different books and articles in the past on a wide range of ethical debates. “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” originally printed in the New York Times in the fall of 1999 just before Singer began to work at Princeton University, is intended for the common man, a middle-class citizen who makes average wages and reads popular newspapers. As Singer is a professor of ethics, the article is structured around the

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In this paper I will be arguing against Peter Singer’s views on poverty, which he expresses in his paper “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”. Singer argues that all people with wealth surplus to their essential needs are morally obligated to prevent the suffering of those in dire situations. I will argue that you can not hold people morally obligated to prevent the suffering of others, and that people can only be held morally obligated to prevent suffering that they themselves caused. To begin, we will look at Singers beliefs and arguments regarding poverty and the responsibility of people to help those in need. Singer’s first arguments revolves around a girl named Dora, who is a retired schoolteacher, who is barely making a living writing

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Singer attempts to close this gap with the age old question of ‘why don’t we give the riches’ money to the poor’. The essence of Singer’s argument is obviously end world poverty. Probably the strongest point made in Singer’s argument is the involvement of the whole world. By taking this money from those across the world eliminates the opportunity for indifference. To stand with indifference is to stand with the oppressor.

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Philip Manning 12504697 Q) Evaluate Peter Singer’s argument in ‘Famine, Affluence and Morality’. There can be no doubt that Peter Singer’s argument in ‘Famine, Affluence and Morality’ is unrealistic, unfair and not sustainable. Singer’s arguments are valid arguments but not sound. In order to get a clear and balanced view of my arguments which disprove the Singer article, it is first necessary to examine and lay out the main aspects of Singer’s argument in ‘Famine, Affluence and Morality’. My arguments against Singer’s claims shall then be detailed and examined in depth.

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When Singer talks about government aid, what many people think may count as their “contribution” to society, he destroys the image that i) we are giving enough ii) we are giving it effectively. Singer draws light to the common misconception that 15-20% of US taxes is used for foreign aid, instead less than 1% is donated. However, what’s interesting is that most Americans thought that it should be at 5-10%. In drawing the distinction, Singer highlights the fact that not only does less money get sent to overseas aid than he expects, but considerably less than the average American also expects. In doing this, Singer offers opinions from people who aren’t necessarily as benevolent as he appears, making the statistics more relatable to the reader.

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“Why can't peop;le who have money more than enough for their own needs give the rest to their fellow human beings? Why should anyone have to have such a hard life for those few short years on earth?” (Frank paragraph 6) and “But above all, a gift should never be flung in anyone's face - every person has a right to kindness.” (Frank paragraph 7) These two pieces of evidence from Anne Frank exemplify that wealthier people should try and put themselves in the street beggars shoes and see how much they need help from others who have everything and

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It’s extraordinary how much money we spend on things that are completely unnecessary to our survival. Not every house needs a TV in every room and not all students need a personal computer. However we as people are greedy by nature and therefor do end up spending tons of money on things like that. This is promoted more and more through social media, TV, magazines, newspapers, etc… Yet we could be spending more (if not all) of our extra money of helping others who have nothing. Peter Unger a New York University Philosopher calculated the cost to save a child’s life “By his calculation, $200 in donations would help a sickly two-year-old child transform into a healthy six-year-old” (Singer).

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In one circumstance, we may feel the need to give to those who are poor to keep them from getting in our personal space; and in other circumstances we feel that we give to others out of the kindness of our heart. I completely agree with Ascher and her views on compassion, because I have been in similar situation where I have questioned why people give money, and whether they give with a whole heart or out of necessity. Furthermore, this essay can teach us plenty of lessons that can be utilized throughout our lives so we can teach others and make them aware of the need to be more

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It has become obvious that the world is falling further into debt every year, even in our own country, reports show that “one in seven Americans are in debt,” (Rector, Robert, and Sheffield). While there have been many efforts to fix the devastation of poverty, it is no secret that the majority of the world is still in need of help. One of the most heated solutions comes from a man named Peter Singer and which he states that whatever money is spent on luxuries should be given away to those who are impoverished, and struggle for the basic needs of life. With this intention, you’re probably wondering what exactly is considered to be a luxury for people. Something that is luxury is everything besides the bare necessities such as water, food, shelter, and etc.

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I do like his main analogy because it made me look at the situation in a different light. If I saw a child drowning in a pond, I wouldn 't think twice about jumping in to help him/her. So why is it I don 't feel the same way about "jumping in" to help children from poverty? In the analogy of the drowning child, Singer questions whether he should jump in and ruin his new shoes, dirty his suit, and be late for work, all to save a child 's life. I surmise part of the reason he adds this to his analogy is to make us question ourselves.

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The Truth About Poverty “Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn't commit” this quote was said by Mahatma Gandhi and it relates so well with this article “It is Expensive To Be Poor”, answer the question yourself, Is it expensive to be poor? This article is titled like that to get the audience's attention early and have them thinking ahead of reading. The author Barbara Ehrenreich is building a pre thought when she does this which helps support her claim. “It is Expensive To Be Poor” by Barbara Ehrenreich is an article posted on “The atlantic” “which is where you can find your current news and analysis on politics, business, culture, and technology”. Knowing what “The Atlantic” offers for readers this gives Ehrenreich a detailed look at who she is writing to.

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