Topic > Critical Analysis of Singer's Arguments in His Solution to World Poverty

Every day we see wealthy American consumers driving around in expensive cars, buying new televisions, $100,000 homes, and other luxury goods. In “The Singer's Solution to World Poverty,” Peter Singer argues that there are reasons why these types of people and others cannot afford to give to those in need. At the beginning of Singer's article he creates a story to get people to see what it's like to not give to those in need. Singer's first scenario illustrates a powerful framework that convinces the reader to want to donate, but Singer's argument quickly begins to strengthen later in the article. Do Singer by demanding that all people with extra money donate everything else they have to the homeless. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Singer's first example refers to a Brazilian film titled "Central Station" in which a woman calls Dora, a retired school teacher, who is barely making ends meet and has the opportunity to make quick money 1,000. All he has to do is bring a child to his home so that he can be adopted by foreigners. Dora delivers the baby and earns her $1,000, which she then spends on a new television. Dora later discovers that the boy was not adopted and was too old and will be killed for his organs. He decides he wants the baby back and tries to make up for his mistake. The second example Singer uses for his argument is from a book called “Living High and Let Die” by Peter Unger. This scenario involves a man named Bob who has just spent almost all of his savings on a car. Cars have a commercial value and increase in value as we age, so once we retire we can sell them and have a stable lifestyle. One day Bob takes a walk and parks his car near the train tracks. Then he sees a train quickly heading towards a little boy, Bob has a switch that could direct the train in the opposite direction which is headed towards his car. Deciding not to flip the switch, the trans hits the child and the child dies and his car is not damaged. In both scenarios Singer paints a picture that really exerts strong emotion on the part of Dora saving the little one. boy at the exchange with Bob. Singer continues his arguments when he tells readers "suppose Dora told her neighbor that the world is tough, other people have nice TVs too, and if selling the baby is the only way to get it, well, he was just a street kid. She would have become, in the eyes of the public, a monster" In the example Singer draws a parallel between the two characters by saying that "Bob's conduct, most of us will immediately respond, was gravely wrong." that the reader thinks of Dora in a light that when Dora found out what she was doing she decided to save the child and be the "good guy" and in the case of Bob who was faced with saving a child and decided to to do so. be the "bad" Singer also saying "Unlike Dora, Bob did not have to look into the eyes of the child he was sacrificing for his own material well-being." These two scenarios Singer tries to link this to Americans not donating to the poor . Singer even says that "Bob's situation resembles that of people who can but don't want to donate to foreign aid." The parallel between the stories and real life is that Bob didn't know or probably didn't see the child on the tracks and as readers they don't know if the child will receive the donation. Another allusion to the outside world is why.