“The Singer Solution to World Poverty” by Peter Singer

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Article Summary
Article Analysis
Response
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Poverty is one of the problems that have continued to afflict some people in the world. Governments and policymakers all over the world have tried to come up with a feasible solution to world poverty. However, no solution has been found yet, and poverty rates, especially in the developing world, continue to rise with negative consequences such as hunger and disease being experienced by the populations affected.

The article “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” by author Peter Singer attempts to provide a workable solution to the world poverty problem. Singer proposes that the problem of poverty can be solved if each person in the developed world gave away some of the excess money that they have. The author argues that people in the developed world make more money than is necessary to sustain a comfortable lifestyle.

They then use the excess money on luxury goods and leisure. By using analogies, the author demonstrates that it is immoral for a person to spend their money on luxury while the same money could be used to save the lives of children who die because of poverty. In my opinion, the solution provided by the author would not help solve world poverty issues since it does not address the underlying causes of poverty in the developing world.

Article Summary

The article begins by giving an example of Dora, a Brazilian retired schoolteacher, who delivers a street child to organ peddlers in exchange for $1000, which she uses to buy herself a new television. The author argues that while it is easy to condemn Dora for her selfish actions, this is the same situation that happens in affluent nations where people have more than they need to survive comfortably and they use almost one-third of their income on luxury goods and leisure.

The article states that if this excess money was donated to an international charity, it could save many children from dying or suffering from hungry, malnourished and treatable illnesses. Singer provides an imaginary example that is meant to make people think about the morality of living in abundance while others live and suffer from poverty.

The example is about Bob who must decide on whether to save a child from a runaway train at the cost of a very rare and valuable Bugatti, which represents his financial security, or do nothing and cause the child to be killed by the runaway train. Bob decides to do nothing, and because of his choice, the child is killed, but his financial security is guaranteed.

Singer reveals that most people would condemn Bob’s conduct, but then, we also have opportunities to save the lives of children just as Bob had a chance by donating to organizations such as UNICEF and Oxfam America. He proceeds to state that if Bob’s action were wrong, then refusing to donate to the organizations whose contacts he provides is equally very wrong. The article reveals that most of the people who are capable of giving donations to overseas aid organization do not do this.

The fact that most people are not doing it does not make it right. The author then addresses the level of sacrifice that each person should make and he states that each person should give more than their fair share to help the world’s poor. The author concludes by asserting that we are all in a situation where we must “choose between the life of an innocent child and the sacrifice of most of our savings” (Singer 331).

Article Analysis

The article assumes that everyone is aware of the poverty issues affecting much of the developing world. It also assumes that people are guided by ethics in their actions. The author does not attempt to provide a balanced view but instead only expresses his opinion that making donations will help solve the problem of poverty.

The article by Singer is well organized, and his ideas are coherently expressed. He begins by providing a stirring example of an action that the majority would consider wrong and then relates the same to how we can solve poverty in the world. The ending of the paper effective ties to the “Singer solution” for solving world poverty.

The article is written for a general audience comprising of individuals of various ages and educational backgrounds. With this consideration, Singer uses language that is easy to understand and avoids using technical terms. The article makes use of logical, emotional, and ethical appeal to support its arguments. The author makes use of logical appeals by providing rational arguments on why individuals should take it upon themselves to donate.

By use of statistics, Singer can assert that “the United States Government is not going to meet even the very modest United Nations-recommended target of 0.7 percent of the gross national product” (330). The article also quotes Peter Unger who is an acclaimed philosopher to make its point. Singer also uses emotional appeal. One of the ways that Singer does this is by using vivid images in the essay.

To begin with, he draws a parallel between refusing to donate to overseas aid agencies in sacrificing a child for one’s material comfort. Singer explicitly asserts that the reader who can donate but refuses to is “acting as at least as badly as Bob was acting when he chose to let the runaway train hurtle toward the unsuspecting child” (329). An ethical appeal is also used with the reader’s sense of right and justice being called upon.

The article declares that those who are well off should make an effort to assist those who are in need. Singer states that it is immoral to spend money on luxuries while there people who are in dire poverty. He asserts that a donation of a mere $200 will “help a sickly 2-year-old transform into a healthy 6-year-old — offering safe passage through childhood’s most dangerous years” (327).

The reader is therefore encouraged to donate to charitable agencies and help the needy since this is the right thing to do. The most dominant appeal used is an ethical appeal. The author does not use the logical appeal effectively since very few authorities on the subject reference. The author is guilty of using weak analogies throughout the article.

The article begins by giving an example of a woman who sells a child to organ traffickers, and this is equated to refusing to give to the poor. The author suggests that those who refuse to donate because others do not are as guilty as the Germans who chose to do nothing during the Nazi era. The two issues being compared by Singer are not of equal gravity or relevance, and this makes his analogies weak.

The effectiveness of the arguments made in the article is therefore weakened because of these uses of weak analogies. The article also commits the “appeal to authority” fallacy by referring to authorities on the subject to support the arguments made. The author uses an example given by the philosopher Peter Unger to make his case and refers to statistics given by the same authoritative figure.

Without offering any reasoning or evidence that this authoritative figure used, the effectiveness of Singer’s arguments is reduced. The article also appeals to ignorance by arguing that there is no conclusive evidence that the donations made do not have a positive impact on the lives of the poor. Concluding this lack of evidence weakens the arguments made by the article.

Response

I do not agree with the position taken by Singer. To begin with, I feel that his solution, which only entails making donations, ignores the fact that there are many other issues responsible for poverty in the developing world. Mbaku contends that one of the reasons for the extreme poverty and deprivation faced by many people in Africa is the lack of democracy and opportunistic behaviors such as corruption by civil servants and politicians (108).

If these issues are ignored and only donations are made to Africa, the poverty problem will never be solved. For poverty to be dealt with effectively, people must look at more than just the monetary aspect of poverty. Blackmon asserts that donor countries must have a broader understanding of the concepts of poverty and development, as opposed to the traditional monetary and financial focus (198).

I also disagree with the article since the solution offered by Singer fails to provide a way for sustainable economic development by the poorest counties. The author suggests that if cash donations are made by every person who is capable of doing so, then the poverty problem in the world will be solved since this money will be used to tackle the issue.

This argument fails to consider that for donations to have the most impact there have to be good domestic policies and institutions in place. As it currently stands, this is not the case with most developing nations. Major reforms are needed in countries to tackle the problem of poverty.

Ashraf asserts that “development assistance has little or no positive influence in poor countries that avoid economic reforms which could help alleviate poverty and improve health (1019). If the developed nations want to tackle the poverty problem, they should look for ways to foster change and positive reforms in the developing nations in question.

Conclusion

This paper set out to provide a detailed critique of Peter Singer’s article “The Singer Solution to World Poverty.” It began by giving an overview of the article and providing a summary of this essay. An in-depth analysis was then given to demonstrate how the author made use of various types of appeals to persuade the reader.

The dominant appeal was the ethical one while the logical appeal was the least effective. The paper then discussed the logical fallacies committed and how they weakened the arguments made. I disclose that I do not agree with the position expressed by Singer because it fails to consider the non-monetary reasons behind poverty.

Poverty is an issue that needs to be tackled urgently by the international community. However, this will not be achieved by increasing donations to poor nations. Solutions that factor the underlying causes of poverty and try to foster sustainable economic growth will be better placed to solve the problem of poverty.

Works Cited

Ashraf, Haroon. “Aid will only Help if African Countries Kick Start Reform.” The Lancet 357.1 (2001): 1019-1020. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Blackmon, Pamela. “Rethinking Poverty through the Eyes of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.” International Studies Review 10.1 (2008): 179–202. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Mbaku, John. “Institutions and Poverty Alleviation in Africa.” African and Asian Studies 6.1 (2007): 107-134. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Singer, Peter. “The Singer Solution to World Poverty.” Perspectives on Contemporary Issues. 6^thed. Ed. Katherine Anne Ackley. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage, 2012. 326-331. Print.

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