New

Thomas Tran Singer describes very effectively what is going on in today’s world concerning poverty and famine. People that live in the Western world tend to have greater availability to food when this shouldn’t be the case. Peter Singer says that there is plenty of food to go around to feel everyone in this world, but the West wastes much of it. This theory makes sense in that the western countries do tend to be more prosperous and therefore can afford import large amounts of produce, sometimes more than needed. Coming from the third world country I know how hard it is to find three meals a day for a family with ten members. The third world countries are left with whatever they can afford and even then, it does not suffice the whole population. They do not have a lot of natural resources even through they work so hard. I remember in 1985, in Vietnam, I was about 8 at the time. The country was in famine after the communist took over the country. As a kid, I had no idea what was going on, but there was one thing I knew, that was we did not have food to eat or clean water to drink. Look at the world around us. Famine is widespread in Africa. I think that the problem of famine will never be resolved to our expectations. There will always be an inequality because that’s the way our world functions. The imbalance is what keeps our world stable. In this article, Singer brings to light the harsh reality concerning poverty facing this planet. He points out that a fifth of this world’s population live in absolute poverty where there is not enough income to provide for food, clothing and shelter. Singer then provides reasons why most people believe that it is not immoral to continue living without attempting to help the needy. I think most of Singer’s argument makes sense logically and that we should be helping out the poor. But this results in a socialist society because we would be obliged to donate “what we consider to of comparable moral value to the poverty we can prevent.” For a moral person this would mean to donate everything until we are reduced to just the basic necessitates. Even someone like Mother Teresa dedicates her life for the sake of the poorest of the poor. I have the opportunity to work with the men homeless shelter in downtown Spokane. I am so impressed to receive the generous gifts, donations, times and talents to the poor and the needy.