Famine, Affluence, and Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Famine, Affluence, and Morality - Essay Example The same feeling of caring and helping should be applied to people from all over the world. The second reason for agreeing with Singer is the fact that ‘developed countries’ have resources to help the hungry. I agree with Singer’s point that instead of terming the act of helping famine victim as a ‘charitable act’, it should be termed as ‘moral obligation’ (Singer 236). So much of food is wasted and thrown away by common people. One can easily feed hundreds of starving people with the amount of the left-over food by people in a developed nation. Also, people make choices regarding the food items and quality. This shows that there is more than enough amount of food related items available in a country. Hence, when a country has the storage of food even after feeding its citizens sufficiently, then it becomes amoral obligation of that nation, or people of that nation, to help minimize the world hunger. Instead of wasting food or throwing aw ay the edible parts just because they are not needed for a particular dish, it should be given to people who need it. No sane human being will choose to throw food in waste bin rather than giving it to a person who is starving to death. Hence, I agree with Singer that minimizing world hunger is a moral obligation of human beings. ... Singer’s argument is convincing as he has pointed out to the fact that richer nations have the capacity to reduce the suffering of famine victims in other countries without causing any reduction in the supply of resources to its own people (Singer 229). He has also stated that at the individual level also, common people have failed to raise their voice to help famine victims (Singer 229). Singer is convincing as he has exposed the selfish attitude of people and their lack of empathy towards the needy. From his argument, it becomes clear that proving money is not the only way one can help the famine victims. They can help the famine victims by holding demonstrations on the street to force the government to take right decisions. They can encourage people to help the victims by conduct awareness campaigns to let them know about the inhuman conditions in which the victims are living. As Singer says, they can write to responsible government officials, hold symbolic fasts and donate whatever is essential for the survival of the victims (Singer 229). His argument shows that people have aced irresponsibly and immaturely. Moreover, Singer’s argument is strengthened by the fact that what is needed to help the victims is nothing more than just a little awareness and desire to help the needy. By focusing on the people’s and nation’s lack of desire to help the victims, and irresponsibility towards the world citizenship despite of having the resources to help, Singer convinces the reader that individuals and nations have failed on the level of humanity. Answer C Singer’s argument can be objected on the point that being wealthy is not crime. Singer has pointed a finger towards wealthy people by saying that instead of choosing to help the famine victims, they