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Summary Of The Singer Solution To World Poverty

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Part I If you do not donate to organizations like The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), you are acting just as badly as Bob. In the article “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” Peter Singer argues about how people have all these luxurious things that are not essential to their lives or health but cannot donate money for a cause such as the UNICEF and other organizations that help people in need. The author is suggesting that every American should stop using their money to buy materialistic things and donate it to charities. Singer tries to persuade the audience by trying to get us to donate money instantly. The first example Singer gives comes from a Brazilian film. A retired school teacher named Dora has to persuade a family to adopt and take care of a homeless, …show more content…

If she succeeds she gets an opportunity to pocket one thousand dollars. Dora successfully gets the boy into the family but the family said that he was too old and all they were going to do is kill him and use his organs for transplants, so Dora took the boy back. The second example Singer gives up is a man named Bob who invested in a very valuable car, (a Bugatti) which he spent all his money on and as a result was not able to insure it. The Bugatti is Bob’s pride but the value of the car is steadily increasing, so that means he would probably have to get rid of it later in the future after retirement. One day, Bob decided to go for a walk down a railroad track, so he parked his car near the end of the railroad track and as he starts walking Bob sees a runaway train with no one aboard. In the distance Bob sees a child at the end of the track. He had two options, one was that he could save the small child but his Bugatti would be totaled or option two, he could save his Bugatti and the child would be killed. Bob, however chooses his car over someone’s life and for many years to come bob enjoys owning his Bugatti while a family is mourning over a child who could

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Please help the children of this third world country by donating just one dollar a day. You can’t turn on the television without seeing a commercial asking you to donate to help feed the impoverished or to supply much needed medicine. In the article, “What Should a Billionaire Give – and What Should You?” the author attempts to make a point of giving money to charitable organizations, much like these commercials. Peter Singer’s article dives into the realm of philanthropy in order to aid the impoverished by appealing to logic through reasoning and statistics, and emotion by using examples throughout the writing.

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In Singer’s essay, “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” the author begins by presenting the reader with the heartfelt scenario of the cost of a child vs. the cost of a new TV. Singer discusses how child trafficking with the intent of organ harvesting is the equivalent of purchasing a brand-new TV because in both cases one can improve conditions for children around the world, either by saving their life or by donating money to help them. Next, Singer goes into the narrative of a man named Bob. Bob has his entire life savings put into a precious Bugatti. However, Bob must make the choice to save his car or to flip the lever and save a child stuck on the railroad tracks.

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Generally, Singer hopes that people should make a plausible budget to donate money to strangers (384). He starts criticizing Americans who waste their money in things that not necessary to them when he said, “The average family in United States spends almost one-third of its income on things that are no more necessary to them than Dora’s new TV was to her” (379). Here, Singer is trying to warn families not to spend money in not necessary things that this money could mean difference between life and death. At this point, the author is very serious about people’s spending, which could save children’s lives. He also gives his reader a story about Bob, who been in a difficult situation that he can save a child’s life, but he could lose his fancy

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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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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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Peter Singer himself writes, “We can give to organizations like Unicef or Oxfam America” (Singer, 737). If the wealthy people were to help the poor out, there is no reason to bother in using children of the poor to feed the wealthy. The money that will be provided can go into making shelters in which those children can live happily. There is no reason for those who do not trust organizations, to be selfish. They themselves can create their own organization, give children shelters and their parents a job as well.

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Think again about Bob and his Bugatti. Unlike Dora, Bob did not have to look into the eyes of the child he was sacrificing for his own material comfort.” Both “Why Don’t We Complain” and “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” are similar because it explains how people would rather save their own possessions, causing them to live with guilt for the rest of their

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In his article, The Singer Solution, Peter Singer argues that citizens of affluent nations are failing to do their moral duty, which is to donate far more to charity than they actually do. The article starts by referring to the Brazilian film Central Station where a miserable retired schoolteacher named Dora is faced with a choice. She could pocket an impressive $1000, but she must first convince a homeless 9 year old to follow her to a certain location where she is told he would be adopted. After spending the $1000 on a new TV, Dora learns that the boy would actually be killed and his organs sold. Dora decides to get the boy back, but what if Dora decided to look the other way after learning of the boy’s fate?

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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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Singer advises people to not follow Bob’s actions. Singer wants people to redeem themselves like Dora, and donate money as much as they could. Singer believes that if everyone would only spend on necessities then people would have money to save a child’s life. Therefore, Singer’s solution to world’s poverty would be successful by adding that people could donate to their own preference of charitable organization and donate as much as they

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Singer is a utilitarian philosopher, along with the likes of other famous philosophers such as David Hume and Henry Sidgwick. Utilitarianism is a type of consequentialism in which it is believed that the right act to perform is the one that produces the most utility, or good. When you view the previous example with this mind set, you can see how the varying situations and choices wouldn’t matter, all that would matter is the fact that both decisions would lead to the same consequence. Yet, Singer doesn’t believe that you have to adapt to his ethics in order to agree that there is something wrong with the fact that people are quick to find fault with Dora, yet have no issue with the choice of the American consumer.

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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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Lastly, Singer argues that we can actually make a difference without sacrificing a lot. By the end of “Rich and Poor” Singer concludes that we owe it to others to prevent absolute poverty. Throughout this paper there are many problems that I have found to be true. For Singers first argument he uses an

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