Are We Murders? A Criticism on Global Poverty

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Did you have a cup of coffee today? Or maybe you went shopping for that new shirt for the summer? Your money could be going to a better cause. Of the 7.15 billion people on Earth today, approximately 2.4 billion people live on less than two dollars and day, and 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day. More than eight-hundred people go to bed hungry, and more than one million people do not have access to clean drinking water. The amazing stat is that over eighteen thousand children die per day from diseases that are preventable. Kids die from a multitude of cause such as diarrhea, malaria, malnutrition, and disease. (Abbate, Global Poverty, 2014) Each could be prevented with the money you spent on that nonessential item for yourself. Most people do not seem to do this because of the out of sight out of mind principle. Since we never get to see how our aid actually helps those across the world, individuals are less inclined to help. In his article ,“The Singer Solution to World Poverty” (Landau, 2012) Peter Singer provides a unique argument in that he believes that we are no different than a murderer because we had the capability to stop it and didn’t do so. We have the ability to give what we essentially waste to maximize the happiness of another person and reduce poverty around the world. There are many charities out there, that can take the little money that we have or need to give, and can distribute it to help a magnitude of people worldwide. In this paper, I am arguing that we should give what money we can to relief and aid organizations in order to reduce global poverty because it is our duty to maximize the happiness around us.
In his article Singer makes a great argument that stems from Act utilitarianism. Singer...

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...ns. Overall global poverty is an issue with no clear answer. Each day, millions of people die and go to bed hungry while millions of others spend money on nonessential items. If everyone can share some type of monetary donation to relief organizations, we can maximize the happiness of the poor around the world, hopefully eradicating global poverty.

Works Cited

Abbate, Cheryl. "Global Poverty." Philosophy 2310. Marquette University. David A Straz Jr. Hall , Milwaukee, Wi. 23 April 2014. Class lecture/PowerPoint
Abbate, Cheryl. "Utilitarianism." Philosophy 2310. Marquette University. David A Straz Jr. Hall , Milwaukee, Wi. 03 March 2014. Class lecture/PowerPoint
Landau, Russ. "The Singer Solution to World Poverty By: Peter Singer." The ethical life: fundamental readings in ethics and moral problems. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 229-236. Print.

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