Comparing Peter Singer's Famine, Affluence And Morality

In his article “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”, Peter Singer condemns the inactivity of affluent countries in aiding East Bengali refugees. Building on the discussion of famine relief, he moves to argue for his major contention, which is the altering of moral conceptual scheme so that affluent countries become morally obliged to assist needy regions, thereby eliminating inequality (Akintayo, 2013). This essay will first identify major arguments in support of the contention. It then applies the framework of critical thinking to evaluate each argument and culminate in reflecting on the previous analysis.

However, another important lesson is on display, the value and significance of speaking truth to power and authority is shown through courageous and humane actions as well. These actions can influence others to stand up for what is right and can impact society as a whole. This is displayed in The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. In the novel, the foster father of Liesel Meminger, Hans Hubermann, exhibits courage and humanity. As the actions he displays clearly disagrees with Hitler's point of view.

What do you do when charitable organizations call you asking for money? Do you donate money to the organization or do you ignore it? In 1999 Peter Singer wrote the article The Singer Solution to World Poverty where he argues “that each one of us with wealth surplus to his or her essential needs should be giving most of it to help people suffering poverty so dire as to be life-threatening.” Singer does this by introducing his article with two very different examples: a woman who saved a child’s life and a man who killed a child to save his Bugatti. Secondly, he proposes how much money would be required to save a child from starvation, $200, and explains why more people do not give even though in the grand scheme of things $200 is not that much money.

By challenging common assumptions and being ethical he effectively claims that the solution to solving these global hunger problems is foreign assistance. Paarlberg shows Pathos, Ethos and Logos through the thought of unravelling worldwide starvation by being realistic of the view on pre-industrial food and farming. Pathos is clearly evident in Paarlberg’s article through the presentation of the food insecurity problem in Africa and Asia. He uses impassioned words as an attempt to reach out to his target audience on a more emotional level by agitating and drawing sympathy of whole food shoppers and policy makers. Paarlberg employs Pathos during the article when he says, “The majority of truly undernourished people -- 62 percent, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization -- live in either Africa or South Asia, and most are small farmers or rural landless laborers living in the countryside of Africa and South Asia” (page 611-12).

The book is undoubtedly most known for exposing the meat industry as endangering the American populace, bringing food inspection to the “forefront of American consciousness”, and leading to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act (Lerner). This is undoubtedly noteworthy- after all, it is the first exposé on the food industry and the well-deserved reason why the novel is so frequently mentioned in history textbooks. However, the true purpose of The Jungle is to serve as a “round of ammunition in the battle for social justice” and advocate the use of “individual progress put to use for the common good”, making it an important criticism of capitalism and a part of the Progressive Era (Napierkowski & Stanley). Because it exposes injustices which America has yet to remedy, there is relevancy to the text and, therefore, a need to read it in classrooms. The reformist nature of the times is effectively captured through Sinclair’s descriptions of the meatpacking industry and its unfair treatment of workers in a dramatized way that differentiates it from other muckraker texts (Bielakowski).

1.Introduction Within the essay “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”, Peter Singer offers a new way of seeing the relationship among this three elements, which is extremely different from the traditional understanding of charity, famine relief, morality, etc. It seems that Peter Singer put our position much closer and more related to the situation when facing problems such as famine and poverty and he redraw the distinction between duty and charity which takes more charity as duty. In order to illustrate his principle, he brings out the the famine in 1971 as an hypothetical position. Overall, he brings a new moral standard which is extremely different from traditional points of view upon the issue of charity and famine relief. 2.Identification

What do you do when charitable organizations call you asking for money? Do you donate money to the organization or do you ignore it? Peter Singer would argue that many people ignore it, and in 1999 he wrote the article “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” where he argues “that each one of us with wealth surplus to his or her essential needs should be giving most of it to help people suffering poverty so dire as to be life-threatening.” Singer introduces his article with two exceptionally different examples: a woman who saved a child’s life and a man who killed a child to save his Bugatti. Secondly, he proposes how much money would be required to save a child from starvation, $200, and explains why a majority people do not give even though $200 is not actually that much money.

The Land Ethic Argument Outline Aldo Leopold’s “The Land Ethic” is an essay describing why we should not treat our land as our property. The first part of half of his essay is based on an anecdote that alludes to Odysseus returning from Troy to behead his slaves. His comparison there is that as once it was alright to treat people as property, it is now just fine to do the same thing to your land. Additionally, as ethics of the treatment of people changed as with the ethics of land treatment.

Poverty is a state of a person where his or her income is below the minimum level necessary to meet his or her needs. Poverty has been one of the oldest and most serious issues this world is facing. Although there are many reasons for poverty, population growth is the most controversial and frequently debated issue. The author wrote this article to persuade people that rich nations should nothing for the poor countries and he unfortunately did not succeeded in doing so. All through Gareth Hardin’s article, he gives out a conclusion that each country is similar to a lifeboat with a specific carrying capacity.

Furthermore, Kennedy also called for action through his famous line which said, “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” He claimed that the people were called for “a struggle against the common enemies of man-- tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.” Again, he used causal inference.

Shoots and Broken Ladders F. Scott Fitzgerald’s early American masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, gives readers a glimpse of life in the Roaring Twenties. In a time period filled with new inventions and a booming economy, rising through the ranks of social hierarchy seems deceivingly simple. Yet, improving one’s social stature in the communities of East Egg and West Egg is, in fact, a nearly impossible task. Unfortunately, rising in social standing in today’s society has proven just as difficult. As the nation’s wealth gap grows larger, more and more individuals are driven into poverty.