A Response to Singer on Famine, Affluence, and MoralityEssay Preview: A Response to Singer on Famine, Affluence, and MoralityReport this essayWhat do you think about the Singer article? Do you think hes right? Are we really morally obligated to give to relief efforts and other means of ending suffering until the point at which we would be giving up something of comparable moral worth? Why or why not?
I think Singer has hit the nail on the head. Charity, or as he calls it, dutyÐ must be something to which everyone commits. Reading the article echoed what my mother used to say at the dinner table, “You knowÐ… people in Africa would do anything for what you are throwing away right now.” The implication was never that I should eat more in order to finish it (albeit, it seems that is what kids do nowadays). Nor was the implication that I should put the food in a glad bag, pack it with dry ice, and mail it over. The goal of her stating such an obvious and unfortunate statement was that I should not live in excessiveness, nor should I live beyond my means. This is a rather large statement for her to make in regards to me taking a spoonful too much of mashed potatoes, but I have always felt we can dilute many of lifes choices into a simplistic problem as done above.
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This is part of a post I made on my own Facebook page. Some of you may want even more information about my family history, religion, and community. This is certainly my first experience with that subject since I didn’t know many of the groups in my life. That being the case, what had I learned? It was hard for me to resist the temptation to question Singer and try and make a quick list of what I did or didn’t do. I would try and follow, as always. I wrote: “I’ve read other social justice warriors who have had similar reactions to the book. I read about the social justice movement in the ’90s and ’00s/00s” But I think it’s clear he has had success with this one. When I was writing “Facts & Figures” (2003) on my phone I read that there was a group called the International Social Network, which was very well-known for its online discussion. I couldn’t find any of its members on those people’s Facebook account. I called one to confirm what the group was doing and it did list its various online groups, but I found none. It was in a small community of around 250 people, but I didn’t bother. I was quite frustrated because many of them seemed to have no idea what I was doing as I walked from the restaurant to my car by. But they seemed to have information about the group which they claimed was about being part of some very important cultural and social movement. This idea resonated with me on many levels: people often refer me to “the activists” like the “Social Justice Warriors”. To my mind, that was a great group to have. I also read this article about an internet group called the Global People’s Network, which was very influential in my life. It even featured a black and white photo of me sitting on the back of a computer keyboard in front of the white man and the black man’s hands clasped behind his back. It was pretty cool, but I haven’t looked much at the groups I visit. It seems that at least in my experience the people who do follow the group seem to be very nice people and I know the people in my travels are from them too. I was also told there were many people who lived in some of the poorer parts of the world. I don’t remember being that many of them or seeing many of them at my previous friends’ gatherings. I do remember reading about others in their midst who were much less well liked amongst the middle class but who stayed out of trouble. I do remember others who were so close to the upper middle class that they were able to communicate from outside. There is a section of my Facebook that I would like to add to describe some group members, but I think it’s more of an explanation. Some members were from the upper middle class who were still on school leave after I left that party. There are many members of the family who are still working in the oil industry. Those members also have lots of things that they love. This is something that I would like to see my friend share with many others, but I wouldn’t be surprised by many of them being happy but also unhappy. I think there might even be an explanation for why I didn’t know more about the group to begin with. It would be nice to see that this was
{snip}
This is part of a post I made on my own Facebook page. Some of you may want even more information about my family history, religion, and community. This is certainly my first experience with that subject since I didn’t know many of the groups in my life. That being the case, what had I learned? It was hard for me to resist the temptation to question Singer and try and make a quick list of what I did or didn’t do. I would try and follow, as always. I wrote: “I’ve read other social justice warriors who have had similar reactions to the book. I read about the social justice movement in the ’90s and ’00s/00s” But I think it’s clear he has had success with this one. When I was writing “Facts & Figures” (2003) on my phone I read that there was a group called the International Social Network, which was very well-known for its online discussion. I couldn’t find any of its members on those people’s Facebook account. I called one to confirm what the group was doing and it did list its various online groups, but I found none. It was in a small community of around 250 people, but I didn’t bother. I was quite frustrated because many of them seemed to have no idea what I was doing as I walked from the restaurant to my car by. But they seemed to have information about the group which they claimed was about being part of some very important cultural and social movement. This idea resonated with me on many levels: people often refer me to “the activists” like the “Social Justice Warriors”. To my mind, that was a great group to have. I also read this article about an internet group called the Global People’s Network, which was very influential in my life. It even featured a black and white photo of me sitting on the back of a computer keyboard in front of the white man and the black man’s hands clasped behind his back. It was pretty cool, but I haven’t looked much at the groups I visit. It seems that at least in my experience the people who do follow the group seem to be very nice people and I know the people in my travels are from them too. I was also told there were many people who lived in some of the poorer parts of the world. I don’t remember being that many of them or seeing many of them at my previous friends’ gatherings. I do remember reading about others in their midst who were much less well liked amongst the middle class but who stayed out of trouble. I do remember others who were so close to the upper middle class that they were able to communicate from outside. There is a section of my Facebook that I would like to add to describe some group members, but I think it’s more of an explanation. Some members were from the upper middle class who were still on school leave after I left that party. There are many members of the family who are still working in the oil industry. Those members also have lots of things that they love. This is something that I would like to see my friend share with many others, but I wouldn’t be surprised by many of them being happy but also unhappy. I think there might even be an explanation for why I didn’t know more about the group to begin with. It would be nice to see that this was
{snip}
This is part of a post I made on my own Facebook page. Some of you may want even more information about my family history, religion, and community. This is certainly my first experience with that subject since I didn’t know many of the groups in my life. That being the case, what had I learned? It was hard for me to resist the temptation to question Singer and try and make a quick list of what I did or didn’t do. I would try and follow, as always. I wrote: “I’ve read other social justice warriors who have had similar reactions to the book. I read about the social justice movement in the ’90s and ’00s/00s” But I think it’s clear he has had success with this one. When I was writing “Facts & Figures” (2003) on my phone I read that there was a group called the International Social Network, which was very well-known for its online discussion. I couldn’t find any of its members on those people’s Facebook account. I called one to confirm what the group was doing and it did list its various online groups, but I found none. It was in a small community of around 250 people, but I didn’t bother. I was quite frustrated because many of them seemed to have no idea what I was doing as I walked from the restaurant to my car by. But they seemed to have information about the group which they claimed was about being part of some very important cultural and social movement. This idea resonated with me on many levels: people often refer me to “the activists” like the “Social Justice Warriors”. To my mind, that was a great group to have. I also read this article about an internet group called the Global People’s Network, which was very influential in my life. It even featured a black and white photo of me sitting on the back of a computer keyboard in front of the white man and the black man’s hands clasped behind his back. It was pretty cool, but I haven’t looked much at the groups I visit. It seems that at least in my experience the people who do follow the group seem to be very nice people and I know the people in my travels are from them too. I was also told there were many people who lived in some of the poorer parts of the world. I don’t remember being that many of them or seeing many of them at my previous friends’ gatherings. I do remember reading about others in their midst who were much less well liked amongst the middle class but who stayed out of trouble. I do remember others who were so close to the upper middle class that they were able to communicate from outside. There is a section of my Facebook that I would like to add to describe some group members, but I think it’s more of an explanation. Some members were from the upper middle class who were still on school leave after I left that party. There are many members of the family who are still working in the oil industry. Those members also have lots of things that they love. This is something that I would like to see my friend share with many others, but I wouldn’t be surprised by many of them being happy but also unhappy. I think there might even be an explanation for why I didn’t know more about the group to begin with. It would be nice to see that this was
Singers anecdote about the child drowning in the pond, much like my mothers lesson to me as a child, is purposefully simple and easy to digest. I do not think anyone in this class can disagree that Singer is correct; it would be your duty to save that child. But somehow, between him making you choose between getting your clothes dirty and saving a drowning child and making you choose between “lowering your standard of living” and saving many starving people which you cannot see, people disagree. As Singer mentions, proximity seems to be the major issue. Is a Bengali human life less important because they are not an American citizen, or in his examples, an English citizen?
In regards to his assertion that we should give until we reach a point where we are marginally at the same standard as those we are giving to also holds a lot of truth. This is obviously an optimistic and unfortunately unrealistic sentiment. I find myself somewhere between the moderate stance, that we should give until we get to the point where we start diminishing our quality of life, and the above statement. However, I think people need to re-evaluate “quality of life.” I think a lot of people have looked at what he is saying as an extremity, which is never good. You cannot look at it as giving up education, because obviously he got multiple degrees and teaches at University. On a global scale, education of a single person is good for everyone. He is by no means saying drop out and donate your tuition to a charity. However, when you buy books, do you need a brand new book or could you buy a used one from Amazon (if available, obviously). In doing so you decrease the usage of an important raw material, paper, and you free up money you otherwise would not have. Having a car in America is necessary based on how our infrastructure was built; it is a poor design. But we must live with it until a mass transportation system worth a dime is built. So, is Singer saying do not buy a car? No. But, is a Hummer H2 necessary to get between Baltimore and Washington DC, or would you be fine with a Ford Focus (There actually is a MARC train that does that route, but we can ignore that)? Obviously a Ford Focus fulfills the same NEED as an H2.