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Analysis Of The Article ' The Singer Solution And World Poverty ' By Peter Singer

Satisfactory Essays

Chioma Obi
Professor White
English 1301-81002
25 September 2017 The Right Thing to Do: Ending Poverty
The article, “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” by Peter Singer provides the argument that Americans should spend some of their income to help those in need, instead of using it on luxuries that they don’t need. Singer supports his argument by indicating that we are somewhat like the characters in the story. I have mixed feelings with Singer’s claim because he expects that people have money to help, but many people could be dealing with financial problems that would limit their ability to help. It is not right that Singer should make Americans feel guilty, by using life or death situations.
Singer begins his argument by describing …show more content…

Bob had to make a choice between saving a child he didn’t know and saving his Bugatti. Bob chooses to save his car and the child ends up dying. This is wrong because the child was a human being and in the grand scheme of things the car was meaningless, despite Bob’s valuing it over a child’s life. Singer states, “to be able to consign a child to death when he is standing right in front of you takes a chilling kind of heartlessness; it is much easier to ignore an appeal for money to help children you will never meet” (Singer). I don’t agree with Singers statement because I think both ways are heartlessness. Even if you don’t know the child, I don’t think it is right to let the child die over something that is worthless. Unger agrees with what Bob did was wrong. Singer states, “he reminds us that we, too, have opportunities to save the lives of children” (Singer).
Specifically, Singer makes his main argument by comparing Americans to Bob’s situations. After a pause in the text, Singer states, “The money you will spend at the restaurant could also help save the lives of children overseas” (Singer). Instead of using income on luxuries, Singer wants Americans to use it to save a child’s life. He even states, “and that, sadly, is a world in which we know that most people do not, and in the immediate future will not give substantial amounts to overseas aid agencies” (Singer). Singer is

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