This essay provides a critical look at views that have been presented by Garrett Hardin and Peter Singer on the subject of helping the poor people. The two authors express totally different views about how to deal with those who are poor. I will discuss the claims made by both writers and then conclude by giving my personal stand regarding the claims made by these two writers.
The Singer Solution to World Poverty
Garret Singer attempts to draw readers’ attention to the fact that it is critical for people to take individual responsibility to assist those who are in need.
He makes a claim that some people are born into poverty while others end up in a state of poverty because choices made in life and that are responsible for placing them where they are. In his explanations, Singer chooses to focus more on those born into poverty rather than those who find themselves in poverty as a result of wrong choices made in the past.
In his argument about taking individual responsibility, Singer points out that those who are wealthy in the society have a noble task to make a contribution to the welfare of the disadvantaged people. However, he recommends that as the wealthier people do what they can to help the poor, they should provide as much as they are able to while being careful not to put themselves in a state of need.
Singer also makes an emotional appeal to the wealthier individuals to consider the fact that the poor can not help themselves and as such, they must help them as a moral duty.
He claims that by making a commitment to give whatever amount of money one chooses to give per day to the course of the poor, it is possible to enable those in the community who happen to be in sincere state of need to live much longer than they would otherwise do.
Lifeboat Ethics: The Case against Helping the Poor
Hardin on the other hand, is strongly convinced that the best way to help the poor people is by training or showing them how to make wise decisions that will help them to live well. Given that the population growth of the poor is much higher than that of the rich, helping them will also make their state of poverty to get worse.
He claims that giving money to the poor is not the wrong approach to addressing their problems and supports this by saying that those who give money to the poor only help to make their situations even worse. Even though the intentions of the individual helping the poor may be good, the outcome could be very devastating. In the end, rather than saving some of the poor people from their predicaments, more problems will be created.
Further to the above claims, Hardin is also of the opinion that the rich are where they are because of their hard work and good decisions they have made in life. His recommendation is that rather than just dishing out handouts, the rich should take it upon themselves to teach the poor how to make the right decisions and progress in life.
Hardin is very much against the idea of giving out money to the poor and claims that such acts can not offer a lasting solution to that will enable the poor escape poverty. Even though the rich may be able to help the poor by giving out them money, the help may not last long and the poor will remain in a perpetual state of poverty.
As a result, their future lives will not improve and they will continue with their usual struggles. On the contrary, if the poor are taught how to come out of poverty and they succeed, a lasting solution will have been found and their lives will end up being much better.
My Stand
First of all, I believe that it is always important to treat others the way I would want to be treated if I were in a similar situation. Like Singer I am a believer of the fact that if one person can help another, he or she should not hesitate to do so. After all, helping other people always brings some sense of joy to the person offering the helping.
However, I also believe that if the person or people being helped are doing nothing to come out of their poor state, it is worthless trying to assist them time and again. In a way, this also supports the claims made by Hardin. I see no need of wasting time trying to get people out of trouble if they can not see the need to look for a solution to their own problems.
Although I often feel compelled to respond in a needy situation, I am also of the opinion that I can only do so much and expect the person receiving help to do something to change his or her situation.