Analysis Of Lifeboat Ethics The Case Against Helping The Poor

Mother Teresa once said "If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” Judgment is something we as humans inherently fear yet, we dare to impose it upon others. However, when people are at their utmost vulnerable there is no force greater that human compassion. I believe that like Mother Teresa we should all strive to judge less rather, we should help to alleviate the suffering of others. As a society, we often fail in our duty to help the poor, the hungry, and the foreign. Garrett Hardin was an ecologist and eugenicist known for his controversial and sometimes conflicting options. His article published in Psychology Today Magazine “Lifeboat Ethics the Case Against Helping the Poor” continues to be cited in college sociology books long

Hardin disagrees. The author presents the concept of a “world food bank” well-nourished countries would contribute and needy countries would be able to withdraw proportional to their need. Hardin feels that such a solution would cause the poor nations to become dependent. Later in the text he brings in the Chinses proverb, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he will eat for the rest of his days." This proverb hold true, provided one takes the time to show the man how to fish and provides him with the resources to continue fishing until he has funds to buy his own equipment. The man also has to be living, breathing, and in a sound mental state. A person cannot teach the man to fish if the man is on the brink of starvation or if the man is in an unhealthy mental state. While it is true that rich nations should refrain from fostering dependencies, it is important to remember that a nation cannot stand without feet. I grew up working in food banks. I have seen hunger, suffering, and the mental and physical ailments that come with such burdens. Those who suffer in this manner are ill-equipped to simply pick up agriculture in a three day class. The same truth applies to developing nations. The tenants of first world countries democracy, nourishment, safety for its citizens are not won in a day or even a year. It takes the long term

Hardin informs the reader that the ethical philosophies of Christianity and Marxism are inherently flawed because ethics have no place in survival. I argue that ethics are essential to human survival. Without ethical conduct a civilization would be impossible to maintain a code of conduct is what separates the early nomadic humans from civilized members of society. Such a concept can be found in the earliest of faiths and moral philosophies. The early pagan faiths believed in the sanctity of the individual being and that believers were being called to protect the wellbeing of their fellow man. The corporal works of mercy, a moral code practiced primarily in Catholicism, originates from the Jewish Mitzvah of Hospitality which states that all people are called to, “To feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to visit the sick to visit the imprisoned, or ransom the captive, and to bury the dead.” Protecting the lives of others is a concepts that is at least as old as written language. Hardin believes that such moral codes are an attempt to reconcile with the dream of ‘pure justice.’ “Clearly, the concept of pure justice produces an infinite regression to absurdity. Centuries ago, wise men invented statutes of limitations to justify the rejection of such pure justice, in the interest of preventing