Peter Singer had introduced the philosophy that those who are able must contribute to help the poor. He stresses out in his work that it is the moral obligation of those who can afford to provide help for the poor. However, thinking about the different status of a person’s life as stated in the article, When is it enough to provide help for the poor? Are people morally obligated to help the poor? How much money must an individual give so that it could be said that he had provided the right amount of money to help the poor? Why not help the poor retain their dignity and work rather than insult them by providing them goods from the funds from other people? There are many arguments and situations as to why people must or must not help the poor. The different views about helping the poor would be provided in the next few paragraphs of this paper.
According to Singer, if a person only needs a $20, 000 then he or she must give the surplus of the money to the poor. He had also stated that instead of living the high life people must learn to sacrifice in order to save a life. These statements have made the readers of the article think about how they spend their own money. Spending it right through giving the money to the poor instead of using it as a means to dine out or buy something.
Different scenarios have been provided about helping the poor in Singer’s article. First scene was Dora and the poor child who was given to the organ peddlers in order to buy a TV. Another scenario is Bob and the child who had been hit by the train, where Bob chose his car rather than the life of the child. It is understandable for people to judge somebody as stated in the article, as stated most would have judged both Dora and Bob for the things that they did. However, one cannot say what one can do if they are in a situation similar to the ones that had happened between Dora and Bob.
The proponent of this paper believes that poor people must be helped. Help people in a sense that the people must provide means to help the poor get out from poverty by providing them jobs. As stated by Asante in his article about Giving the poor money is not an answer to poverty. Singer may have believe in providing the poor money to help them survive.
However, it is better for the people to believe the case that they must help and at the same time retain the dignity of the person they are helping. It is not good for the poor to assume that there are always rich people who are always willing to part with their money to save their lives. This could cause them to be dependent on what others can give them and not seek for a means to lift their lives away from poverty. It is right for ethical egoist to think that rather than spend your money in luxury it is better to give to the poor.
However, how long must an individual provide money before it is considered as morally acceptable? The individual had worked his way out in order to earn a large amount of money to live in a very comfortable life. Singer had been pointing out that Americans must forget the luxurious life and give all their extras to the poor. However, what if there is a time that they needed the money because they wanted to provide comfort to their child or they wanted their child to go to a good private school? Should they be judged because they have not given anything to the poor? Helping the poor is one of the moral issues that has been talked about over and over again. Peter Singer has good points about helping the poor. Singer regards the consumerism of the Americans as something that is not morally acceptable.
He justifies that the money that would be bought for a luxurious object can be given to needy people who needs the help of the rich. On the other hand, Asante had mentioned about helping the poor in a different way. Through employment means, they are able to provide help and at the same time retain the dignity of the poor. As a conclusion, the proponent of the paper agrees that every individual is responsible for the actions of the people around them. In order for the poor to be independent, the people must teach them how to act on their own and earn their own money.