The Singer Solution to World Poverty

The Singer Solution to World Poverty Essay Example

Poverty is a situation where one cannot afford to meet his basic needs such as food, shelter and education. According to the United Nations a person is said to be living under poverty if he/she is living under two dollars a day. Majority of the people in the world live under poverty due to a number of reasons, which have been put forward by scholars such as poor governance, misuse of government resources etc. There are many solutions that have been suggested by different people to resolve the problem of poverty in the world.

“Singer Solution to World Poverty” by Peter Singer

Peter Singer in his article, “Singer Solution to World Poverty” talks about how poverty can be overcome in the modern society. According to Peter Singer the single solution to world poverty is through giving to the poor by the rich and changing of the spending habits among the poor in our societies (Singer par. 8). Singer targets the rich and the poor alike with an aim of bringing to light the causes as well as effective solutions that can be used to overcome poverty in the world. Through the use of literally techniques and appealing language, Peter Singer brings the irony of poverty and how people from both worlds perpetuate poverty levels while complaining and passing the buck on others.

Logos

The author has used logos effectively in his article to pass a clear message to the audience. He has used reasons as well as evidence to support his argument on what he believes is a solution to poverty. Indeed, Singer provides evidence of his case by giving an example of Dora who is a retired teacher in the film “Central Station”. Dora makes her ends meet whereby she writes letters for people who are not educated. In the process of writing the educative letters, Dora gets an opportunity to pocket more than $1,000 by selling a young boy to a foreigner (Singer par. 2).

The money that Dora gets from her sale, she uses to buy things that do not add value to her life such as buying a television set. The author tells how terrible was her condition after realizing that she had made a mistake by selling the boy to the foreigners, who was going to be killed for organ transplantation. The lady in this film, according to the author, manages to redeem herself by taking the risk of saving the boy from the hands of foreigners.

Moreover, Singer uses the scenario of Dora to explain how people themselves are the enemy of fighting poverty in their lives. The main cause of poverty in the world after taking a close look at the case of Dora is failure by people to deal at first with things that are basic in their lives.

Ethos

To create characters that are trustworthy and compelling, Singer has effectively employed ethos in his argument. For instance, the case of Dora shows that the majority of people in the world are languishing in poverty because they fail to use those little assets they get for the right things in life. Instead of investing their earnings in things that will generate more money for them to come out of poverty, people go to an extent of using their earnings for luxurious items such as buying televisions (Singer par. 4).

The only solution to fight poverty according to the article by Peter Singer is for the poor people to use their earnings in things that add value to their lives. They op to use the little they earn in projects that will add value to their lives such as investing in income generating activities. For instance, the poor should use their income for investment purposes rather than using their income on luxurious things that will not bring any food on the table.

It is therefore, crucial for people to change their spending behaviors according to the article, if they are to overcome poverty in their life. The author’s usage of Dora as a character shows constant behaviors throughout the paper and does not confuse his readers as they are able to understand that poor spending habits on the part of Dora contributes to accelerating poverty in the modern society.

Pathos

Pathos is also well-used in this article to create an emotional appeal to the readers concerning poverty levels across the world. Peter Singer is disturbed by the case of Bob who after retiring from his profession buys a luxurious car (Singer par. 6). Bob is faced with a situation where he is supposed to help a boy, but instead of helping the boy out of the problem that he is faced with, he is more concerned with protecting his material comfort. In this case, we see how Singer is emotionally disturbed by the case of Bob, which he uses to show that rich people in the world are more concerned with protecting their wealth instead of helping the poor come out of poverty.

He gives an example of many people from the western countries, who have the capacity to afford something that they can donate to the organizations providing aid in poverty stricken areas. Instead, helping the poor through donations, the financially capable people do nothing to help those who are faced with poverty. The author is trying to say in his article that the only way people can manage to overcome poverty in the world is by being concerned about the welfare of others.

There is a need for those who have enough to share with those who do not have. This will help in fighting poverty in various parts of the world (Singer par. 7). The rich nations of the world, according to the Peter Singer, should give donations to the aid giving organizations, whose aim is to empower the poor in the society. The author has effectively used pathos in the article as he has emotionally been able to appeal to the rich to help those who are languishing in poverty.

The article has also an appealing language that catches and motivates readers to desire more and more from the writer. Singer uses the style of storytelling in his article to catch the attention of his taught audience. For instance, he uses the two different stories to present two different arguments in his article. He uses the story of Bob and Dora to present his argument to the readers. His language is emotionally persuasive and interesting to the readers (Singer par. 6). By his article the author has been able to persuade his intended audience through the use of logos, pathos and ethos, which catches the attention of the intended audience.

Persuasive Essay on Poverty: Conclusion

In conclusion, the author has been able to use pathos, logos, and ethos to bring out to the reader the two outstanding causes of poverty that have been instrumental in its acceleration in different parts of the world. First, from the article, Singer shows how ironical it is for people to shout about poverty when our actions clearly show we are the root cause and perpetrators of this shameful activity in our societies. Indeed, Singer shows that poverty is accelerated by the rich, who fail to help those who are poor in the society. After careful analysis of the author’s stand as stipulated in his article, poverty in the world can be fully resolved if people develop brotherhood mentality by helping the poor come out of poverty, financing projects that are aimed to help the poor come out of poverty through donations.