We all know what it is.
We've seen the pictures, we've read the stories, and maybe even some of us have seen it, firsthand. Poverty is not a difficult world issue to define or explain like the problem of corruption. It's not difficult to fix either, like climate change is. It's a simple problem with a simple solution.
The problem is us.
You've just bought some super expensive shoes and you're out for a walk. You pass a fishing pond, and you see that there's a child in the water. It's a very small child, and you see he's flailing about. If you take off your shoes before rescuing the child, he will drown. If you go in the fishing pond with your shoes still on, you'll save the child, but your shoes get muddy and ruined. What do you do?
The answer is unanimous. All say that they would save the child at the expense of the shoes.
But, argues Peter Singer, why don't people help save children who are across the world? Children in third-world, under-developed countries are in mortal danger from disease and malnutrition, yet people refuse to act.
That is the problem with poverty--our inability to act.
But, argues Peter Singer, why don't people help save children who are across the world? Children in third-world, under-developed countries are in mortal danger from disease and malnutrition, yet people refuse to act.
That is the problem with poverty--our inability to act.