Lifeboat Ethics The Case Against Helping The Poor -...

Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping The Poor - Garrett Hardin What Should A Billionaire Give-and What Should You? - Peter Singer One of the most important issues facing the world today is the issue of the poor. There are many things that can be done about this issue, however much of the world is torn between wanting to help and not knowing how to go about it. This is the issue that is presented in the two essays - Garrett Hardin’s â€Å"Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping The Poor,† and Peter Singer’s â€Å"What Should A Billionaire Give-and What Should You?† Garrett Hardin was an ecologist who warned of the dangers of overpopulation. In his article, he argues that our first obligation is to ourselves and our posterity and that we†¦show more content†¦Without some system of worldwide food sharing, the proportion of people in the rich and poor nations might eventually stabilize. The overpopulated poor countries would decrease in numbers, while the rich countries that had room for more people would increase. Hardin continues on to show that the modern approach to foreign aid stresses the export of technology and advice, rather than money and food! An ancient Chinese proverb once said: â€Å"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† (Hardin, Pg. 84). A number of programs for improving agriculture in the hungry nations known as the â€Å"Green Revolution† have taken a big stand in offering harvest and greater resistance to crop damage due to action taken on this advice. It is said that foundations such as â€Å"miracle rice† and â€Å"miracle wheat† are one of the most prominent advocates of a world food bank. â€Å"If we satisfy a growing population’s need for food, we necessarily decrease its per capita supply of the other resources needed by men† (Hardin, Pg. 84). Hardin also points out that food is going to be significantly increased to meet a demand due to the overloading population, so what are going to do about the environm ent? For example, studies show that India’s population increases by 15 million each year. The