People work hard in life so that they can own property and after acquiring the property, they need the property to be protected from those with intentions of taking it away. The process of property acquisition may entail legal and illegal activities. While acquiring the property people are supposed to ensure that they use just means. In any country there are people who live in adverse conditions hence are unable to cater for themselves and in this regard the state should cater for them (Cooper, 2010). This is because the state has a mandate of serving its citizens who it should serve like masters. Such a group of people must be helped by the government and the help should not be classified as charity but as a social duty of the state. In this regard the government should ensure that no one is unfed, lacks clothes or shelter. In other words it should ensure that everyone is provided with all the basic necessities. James (2011) suggests that ones body belongs to him, hence has a command over his own body and given the fact that he can only own what he is capable of using, all that he cannot use is a waste. Having taken enough and satisfied him, all that has remained which is regarded as left-over should be given to others. According to Cooper (2010) justice requires that one gets what he deserves and in this case the disheveled man asks for money because it is what he needs most. Though it is the right of the government to ensure that such people are provided with all the basic needs, I will give him money. My decision to give the man money is because I am the owner of what I posses hence I can command the way it has to be used. And because I know that all that I am capable of using belongs to me and that which I am not able... ... middle of paper ... ...ens, it should ensure that these rights are protected. Though the government has programs like charity work, social and public works that require funding by citizens, it should not get the funds by involuntarily taxing citizens. If it does so then it will be stealing from citizens which are a criminal offence. By voluntarily supporting these activities, the citizens will be helping the needy citizens who are unable to adequately support themselves. The government should ensure that every citizen has an access to all his basic needs but those who are well off should also assist the government in supporting the less fortunate. References Cooper, L. D., (2010). What Liberalism Is Missing, Policy Review; Apr/May2010, Issue 160, P15-25, 11p James, P., (2011). Is Liberalism Dead? American Spectator; Feb2011, Vol. 44 Issue 1, p18-21, 4p, 1 Color Photograph
In Peter Singer’s Famine, Affluence, and Morality, he critiques the way in which modern societies have grown accustomed to their ordinary thoughts about famine, affluence, and morality in general. Singer describes a situation in which nine million refugees from East Bengal are living in poverty, and it is the responsibility of the wealthy, and better-off nations to take immediate and long term action to provide for them and to end poverty overall. (Singer, 873) Through his essay, Singer envisions a new world where giving to those in need is no longer seen as charity, but rather a moral duty. He states that in the world we currently live in, it is seen as generous and partaking in a good deed when you donate money to charity, and no one is blamed for not (876). Singer proposes that excess money should be given to those in need, rather than spending it in “selfish and unnecessary” ways (876).
In conclusion, the author’s purpose was to inform his audience about how poverty can affect an individual, a family, a population, and what we could do as the middle or upper class to help those at the bottom. Parks implies that as humans, we have a moral obligation to help those in need and help them achieve not only a healthy financial equilibrium, but also help them achieve their goals and what we can do to help their physical and mental
It is difficult to understand how a country with so much wealth has fifty million people who do not know where their next meal is coming from. These people are not just the homeless; many are working class people who just do not earn enough to feed their families every day from one payday to the next. The directors present validation and ethical implications for the argument that food insecurity is not caused by a scarcity of food; it is caused by poverty and the government’s policies which are
The history of welfare systems dates back to ancient China and Rome, some of the first institutions known to have established some form of a welfare system. In both of these nations, their governments created projects to provide food and aid to poor, unemployed, or unable families and individuals, however these were based on “moral responsibility.” Later in history, in 1500’s England, parliament passed laws that held the monarchy responsible for providing assistance to needy families by providing jobs and financial aid. These became known as “poor laws” (Issitt).
Peter Singer’s article, “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”, highlights the need to prevent absolute poverty in developing countries. An estimate of one billion people live in “a condition of life characterized with malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, squalid surroundings, high infant mortality and low life expectancy” according to Wesley Bagby (pp. 29). As a victim of Sudan’s civil war and a former refugee, I totally understand what it means to be homeless and street child. The hardship endured by homeless and street children on a daily basis is unbelievable; a day without food to eat, a day without clean water to drink, a day without shelter, a day without cloth, a day without medical care, and a day without security. There is no doubt that a
Charter. No one, including the government, has the right to deprive any person of these rights which are given...
In order to sustain a vibrant economy, the government needs to help the poor with their resources. The poor are poor not because they don’t work, but because government has failed to provide wages that American families can survive on. Cost can be an issue but the cost to subsidize the workers with low-wage jobs are higher (Kukathus 49). Acknowledging ethical and reli...
... aid across the world. As we have established that we do have an obligation to redistribute globally in a cosmopolitan perspective, distributing wealth however we may need to rethink what the best assistance is. Amaryta Sen conveys that before sending aid to the third world state, we would need to fully understand the limitation of freedom in the country. Redistributing wealth to global countries requires it to be evaluated by the economic shortage that they are suffering and to see whether it will be efficient in the long run. The more effective ways to contribute would be to international relief agencies or NGO’s that would pursue international development projects to help those in poverty or the alternative option by Tom Campbell’s idea of a ‘Global humanitarian levy’ which suggests a more appropriate taxation on all citizens to collectively aid those in need.
The morality of social welfare systems, or the morality of crafting laws to aid American citizens in poverty, is a subject that (like myriad ethical issues) is hotly debated to say the least. For example, some opponents of social welfare institutions maintain the view that such programs "increase the reward or reduce the penalties" of poverty; thereby ostensibly making an impoverished state appealing even to people who might initially have been motivated to earn a living by conventional means. In other words, welfare programs (according to opponents) encourage otherwise productive individuals to embrace laziness, for basic human needs would be met by such institutions, eliminating the need to work at all. Those opposed to social welfare plans have also been known to claim that an "unfair burden is placed upon workers who must pay for the system." When one considers the above opposing views, it would then stand to reason that proponents of social welfare programs might maintain that it is the moral responsibility of working citizens to provide assistance and funding for programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the Food Stamp program, or the like. This supposition is confirmed upon examination of the notion that, when basic human needs such as "food, housing, and medical care" are not met, one is consequently rendered unable to uphold any level of social freedom. Given the above information, one can safely deduce that modern supporters of social welfare organizations are under the impression that such programs provide the impoverished masses with the means by which to obtain the level of general well-being vital to acquiring work in the first place.
society poverty has various definitions that lack the true picture that poverty depicts. Dictionary defines poverty as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money on material possessions.” In other words poverty is a situation where a person fail to earn a sufficient amount of income to purchase basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothes etc. In reality, poverty is much more than the capital resources. According to Laster Brown explained poverty as “the world without orders’ and further emphasized that “unfortunately it is a human condition. It is despair, grief and pain.” However, the issue of poverty and how we deal with it could differ among people. This idea is reflected in Peter Singer’s “Famine, Affluence and Morality” essay and the opposing essay written by John Arthur in “World hunger and moral obligation: the case against Singer.” Peter Singer raises the question of poverty and our obligations toward it in his essay “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”. In the essay, Singer addresses the question of what obligations we have toward those ar...
Most people of the society still blame the poor for their own predicament. They believe that "if there is a will there is a way". However, they do not think about their government that might had made bad decisions and policies that could actually harm successful development. This causes of poverty and inequality are usually less discussed and often neglected. We must recognize the effects poverty could have on the society and seek ways to create better understanding and resolve the issue before it is too late.
Many people take advantage of the fact that their government doesn’t really care about its citizens; as a result, the wealthy folks use it to their advantage. In order for one to survive, in a world where their government is either corrupted or lacking resources, they have to trigger strategies to increase income. In essence, the government is supposed to help its citizens since it’s the major source of power. However, in some countries, the government’s help is not enough due to lack of resources to support revolutionary projects. In the story “Live Free and Starve” the author Divakaruni expresses the ruthless and beneficial side of poverty. She states that in low economy countries, poverty is considered as normal for its hopeless citizens who have no hope whatsoever in revolution. As a result, they don’t even try to change the already working system for them. With that said I think that the poor hopeless slave is complacent in many ways with a job that probably a person in first world country would hate. Since a nation is lacking rules, people tempt to do whatever is benefiting them. There are many effects of that, but one of the most outrageous ones is unbelievably low wages, hiring kids and even buying them off their parents to do dirty and dangerous labor. Therefore poor working conditions and low hygiene are just some of the common condition, one works in. The demand for child labor is booming in third world countries. Divakaruni says that it’s impossible to prohibit children from working since that’s the only way they can survive. However she mentions that the solution is not to illegalizing child labor. The most beneficial way a society can have positive impact is through establishing programs for the ones in need of resources to survive. These programs would be strictly
...gion. The best way to ensure that the government is in a position to help others is to ensure that it is in a stable economic position itself.
It is also characterised by absence of participation in community decision making and in civil, social, economical and cultural life. It may occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in majority developing countries, pockets of poverty amid wealth in advanced countries, loss of livelihoods as a result from economic recession, sudden poverty as a result from disaster and conflict, the poverty of low-wage market workers, and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family assistance systems, social institutions and safety nets (WB, 2000).
Poverty is a common social issue that has troubled the United States for a countless number of years. Poverty is considered deprivation. It is when we are deprived of the things we need to function properly in society. Education, food and shelter are things that individuals struggling through poverty lack. Poverty is subjective because anyone can differ on the level of deprivation we suffer that describes the state of poverty. Some people even want to include the ability to go on foreign holidays as people are deprived of something the majority up till quite recently could do. Unsurprisingly, it still widely exists and has been a consistent problem. No matter what the overall prosperity level is, there will always be millions of individuals who are homeless and/or hungry. Even today, there are still people struggling to find shelter and feed their families. This social problem has various impacts on different people. However, there are possible solutions that are available to alleviate this social problem. In discussing poverty in the United States, I will be utilizing major perspectives that include the condition emerging middle class poverty and the cause and effects of poverty.