Analysis Of Giving To The Poor By Peter Singer

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Giving to the Poor In Peter Singer’s Famine, Affluence, and Morality, he critiques the way in which modern societies have grown accustomed to their ordinary thoughts about famine, affluence, and morality in general. Singer describes a situation in which nine million refugees from East Bengal are living in poverty, and it is the responsibility of the wealthy, and better-off nations to take immediate and long term action to provide for them and to end poverty overall. (Singer, 873) Through his essay, Singer envisions a new world where giving to those in need is no longer seen as charity, but rather a moral duty. He states that in the world we currently live in, it is seen as generous and partaking in a good deed when you donate money to charity, and no one is blamed for not (876). Singer proposes that excess money should be given to those in need, rather than spending it in “selfish and unnecessary” ways (876). He comes to this conclusion through his un-satisfaction with the world we currently live in. Singer takes a strong awareness towards the impoverished and proclaims that that should not be the case when there are people living …show more content…

One could argue that it is okay to keep one’s earnings for themselves, and that a more meaningful and realistic way of giving to the poor is through your time. When a person donates money to a large charity, often times, only a minimum of that money actually makes it to those in need. Therefore, it probably is more of a use to those in poverty that one is of physical helps. If one was unable to physically donate time, due to distance, there are organizations where they can donate gently used clothing. This is also another more realistic way of helping to end poverty. This theory would leave society to be able to choose how much they donate, buy the expenses they wish with their own income, and donate anything they no longer

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