...Singer’s Moral Guilt T PHI 208 January 7, 2013 Peter Singer’s goal in “Famine, Affluence and Morality” was to try and to get people all around the world to realize that they, as human beings, have a moral responsibility to help other human beings in need if they can. He argues that the way we view moral issues and our moral conceptual schemes need to be altered, and in fact the whole way in which our society takes our way of life for granted. Peter Singer’s argument is that “if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it”. (Singer, 1972). He believes that everyone in similar circumstances as himself should give as much as possible, up to the point that they might also be at risk of poverty themselves. He argues that if everyone in society all across the world did this, that the world would not only solve the Bengal crisis, but would also end world hunger all together. That also by not contributing to helping people suffering from tragedies we are not being morally responsible as a race to our “global village”. Counter points to Peter Singer’s argument that he makes are as follows: First he states that the view that he has taken on the Bengal crisis and world hunger may seem “too drastic a revision of our moral scheme”. (Singer, 1972). That in fact people would not judge other people in the way that he suggests they should, that they would save their judgment...
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...JaQuess Wynn Jayantha Jayman GS101: Intro to Political Economy November 2, 2012 I. Title Shifting the Blame From the Poor to the Privileged: Global Poverty, World Hunger, Population Growth, and the Misappropriation of Wealth in Third World Countries I. Introduction At a broad level, globalization is an increase in the impact on human activities of forces that span national boundaries. These activities can be economic, social, cultural, political, technological, or even biological, as in the case of disease. Additionally, all of these realms are connected through capitalism. Globalization, as defined by McMichael is “integration on the basis of a project pursuing "market rule on a global scale.” Under McMichael’s definition of capitalism, the availability of food is becoming a major issue. And that is driven by a number of factors. Both the ability to grow enough food especially under a changing climate, as well as increases in population and greater demand for food from an increasing discerning population that wants more meat in their diet. This is driving up demand for food and that is basically pushing up prices which not only affects the ability to buy the diversity of food that we want to eat, but it particularly affects people in the developing world for whom food is a major cost in their finances. The evolution of food production plays a big role in its current role in the capitalist economy. Farmers no longer produce food for others to eat, but rather...
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...References: Jarosz, L. (2011). Defining world hunger: Scale and neoliberal ideology in international food security policy discourse. Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 14(1), 117-139. Gonzalez, C. (2012). The Global Food System, Environmental Protection, and Human Rights. Environmental Protection, and Human Rights (February 13, 2012), 26(3). Clapp, J. (2012). Hunger in the Balance: The New Politics of International Food Aid. Cornell University Press. Rosset, P. (2011). Land and the World Food Crisis. Land Land STRUGGLES Land STRUGGLES, 11. McMichael, P. (2009). A food regime analysis of the ‘world food crisis’.Agriculture and Human Values, 26(4), 281-295. Bassett, T. J., & Winter-Nelson, A. (2010). The atlas of world hunger. University of Chicago Press. Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (Eds.). (2010). The globalization of world politics: an introduction to international relations. OUP Oxford. Douillet, M. & Pauw, K. (2012). Trade Integration in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons for Malawian Trade Policy. Washington DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. Torrez, F. (2011). La Via Campesina: Peasant-led agrarian reform and food sovereignty. Development, 54(1), 49-54. Hawkes, S., & Plahe, J. K. (2010). The WTO's Agreement on Agriculture and the Right to Food in Developing Countries. Monash University, Business and Economics. Gonzalez, C. G. (2010). The global food crisis: law...
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...he Current Problem of Famine in Africa This paper is about two African third world countries that have serious problems with hunger, Ethiopia and Sudan. Looking at the people, the land, and the history in each country, a comparison will be made about the causes and effects of famine. Famine in Ethiopia and Sudan is apparently due to ethics, politics, and global weather patterns, but the specific causes of famine in these two countries differ greatly. Famine has stricken both Ethiopia and Sudan very harshly, with many people dying of starvation and others just waiting to die from the horrible hunger. Starvation threatens 365,000 people in Sudan, with the numbers just increasing, with no sign that they will stop increasing either (Nelan, 20). The whole country of Sudan is going through these troubles, but the famine is having its biggest impact in the Southwest and the Northern areas of Sudan (Nelan, 22). Throughout the whole country, 2.5 million square miles of land are empty, without crops that could hold valuable food for the starving people in Sudan. Those numbers are almost nothing compared to the country of Ethiopia though. It is estimated that in Ethiopia there are 4.6 million people starving or currently dead (www.news). Part of this is due to the fact that their crops became stunted drastically with the elongated dry season and an exceptionally short rainy season (www.news). All of these things make people miserable so they are forced to focus on other things to...
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...Olivia Mokler Mr. Burgner English II 5 April, 2012 Independent Novel: Journal #1 Summary- As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol in which a 13th district was destroyed, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by annual lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, an event in which the participants (or "tributes") must fight in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one remains. The story follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers in place of her sister, Primrose, for the 74th annual Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Also selected from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son whom Katniss knows from school, and who once gave her bread when her family was starving. If she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity, and life against love. In the terrifying events that follow, Katniss must marshal all her skills to stay alive, and all her emotions to remain a caring human being in the face of the Games. Quote Analysis- “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen.” Taking the kids from the districts, forcing them to kill one another while people watch, is the Capitol’s way of reminding the districts how their in control, and we are at their mercy. How little chance...
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...‘Is famine/starvation the result of natural catastrophes or man-made? Analyze the root causes of food insecurity in the following two countries: Bangladesh and Niger.’ Food, water, clothing, education and shelter are the basic needs for all human being. As a citizen of world’s one of the poorest country, Bangladesh, I want to explore and understand the significance of famine and starvation and how it is related with food insecurity. The paper will also study the origin of food insecurity and investigate the causes. I have chosen to research on Bangladesh and Niger, two of the low-ranked on United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) countries. Hundreds of millions of people, concentrated toward children and elderly, are suffering due to famine and experts are expecting this number to grow if adequate measures are not taken to prevent it. Sub-Sahara African nations are mostly the victims of extreme cases of famine but other continents also have some impacts. For instance, South Asian countries heavily depend on monsoon rain that makes them vulnerable to crop failure. On the man-made side, government instability and policies also play a big role. The after effects of such event could also lead to economic failure of the population. Countries with uncontrolled population, for instance Bangladesh and India, also suffer from extreme form of malnutrition and hunger as it becomes day by day difficult to produce adequate food for local citizens. In such cases, government asks for...
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...Food Banks Fight Hunger and Help Economy in Local Communities Cindy O’Sullivan Strayer University ENG 115 Composition Professor Tamra Martin November 3, 2013 Imagine if all our communities in Central Florida could provide consistent food and assistance for those in need. Hunger should not be overlooked in such an abundant country. Children need food to develop and grow. Other individuals may need food so they be healthy and maintain or reenter as constructive contributing members of the community. This part of Florida might just have the solution. The mission of The Second Harvest Food Bank is to promote and support development of their partner agencies and fulfill their mission of a hunger free Central Florida. (Second Harvest Food Bank, 2013). Food banks not only provide food for hungry children from low income families but also those in the community who have come upon hard economic times. Once a person has been fed adequately they may then take on their next challenge in life, maybe finding shelter, a place in the community and for some employment. Once they are able to care for themselves, they are more apt to give back to the community, thus helping the local economy. Despite today’s unstable economy, high unemployment and what seems an obvious need, there have been many closures of local assistance programs making availability of services for this population increasingly difficult. Some of our affected community members have never had to apply...
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...Australia now imports more than a third of its fruit supply and almost twenty percent of its vegetables. (Barrett 2011, par. 1) With this information known should we in Australian look to purchase more of our food locally? There are many benefits for us as a country to purchase more of our food locally, the issue of climate change in the world has taught us that decreased carbon emissions are beneficial for the environment, food security in Australia is important the global food crisis of 2007/08 was a stark reminder that imported goods can be subject to huge price fluctuations which cannot be controlled by us, and from purchasing locally grown produce we are able to strengthen local economies and increase job security in our region. The issue of climate change has been an ongoing debate in society for quite some time now, while we are very aware of the impact that our everyday lives of commuting to and from work have on the environment we are less mindful of the effect that the importation that some of our food have on the environment. In an Australian study data was collected to establish the kilometres travelled by a typical basket of groceries and greenhouse gas emissions produced. (Gabella and Abraham 2007, page 3) The study showed that a typical grocery basket had travelled over 20,000 kilometres and greenhouse gas emissions equalled that of over 4000 cars on the road. With such large numbers being produced by both sets of data it can easily be seen that by reducing our...
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...Session 9, Case Study 1 When the Nile runs dry 1. What are “land grabs”? How and why are they happening? Land grabbing is the issue of large land transactions; the buying or leasing of large pieces of land in developing countries, by domestic and transnational companies. The lands are mainly used for the production and export of food and biofuels. The reason why countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China or India are acquiring lands is because they need to grow food to feed their own populations. Indeed, these countries already suffer consequently of water scarcity preventing them from being able to grow enough food for their growing populations. 2. How do land acquisition in Ethiopia and Sudan by South Korea and Saudi Arabia affect food security in Egypt? Egypt is a nation of bread eater requiring millions of tons of wheat per year and in addition Egypt is also the world’s leading wheat importer and subsidized bread. Or, in order to have enough bread for the population Egypt’s grain is either imported or produced with the water of the Nile River. The Nile flows through Ethiopia and Sudan before reaching Egypt. However, according to the Nile water agreement; Egypt is entitled to 75% of the Nile’s river flow. Yet, now those developing countries are acquiring a lot of land in Ethiopia and Sudan with the intention to grow food with nil’s river water regardless of the water agreement. It is fear that demand of water reaches a point where there will not be...
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...over Africa are suffering from famine and dying from it. One country in particular stands above all the rest looking back in history. Ethiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia in 3000 BC, when it became the first African nation, has hit its bottom and cannot get any worse. Famine, hunger, fear, and hopelessness are all emotions running through the average Ethiopian. The latest string of famine to strike was not to long ago. From 1983 to 1986, nearly 1.5 million Ethiopians died of starvation. That was the culmination of nearly two decades of famine that claimed more than seven million lives. Ethiopia was not the only African country to suffer from famine during these two decades. From around 1970 to 1987, all of northeastern Africa had gone through periods of drought. In the neighboring countries of Ethiopia, many other millions of lives were claimed, including the countries of Sudan, Chad, Yemen, and Somalia. Fortunately during this period of time, in these countries, farmers were able to produce enough crops to relieve some of the hunger and starvation. Everything in their power was done to help save the lives of others, and they even stored grain in case of future droughts. In Ethiopia, many other factors prevented the people from preparing for the unavoidable droughts. Many factors worked together with the drought conditions to make the situation even worse. As a result, Ethiopia did not just experience periods of famine between 1970 and 1987 like its...
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...reflection: 1.2 Reflect on and discuss some of the underlying causes of world hunger? * Historical Factors * Cultural Factors * Structural Factors * Critical Factors (Germov, 2014, p. 7, 8). During this assessment I am going to be using the factors from Germovs Sociological Imagination template. Step 2: Reflect upon and analyse your experiences in relation to the topic of the question from step 1, using factors from Willis’ Sociological Imagination Template. There are many factors that are involved in the underlying causes of world hunger some factors include: environmental conditions such as climate change, high temperatures and humidity, natural disasters, land rights, lack of democracy and ownership, crop insect infestations, famine, war and corruption, economic causes, socio cultural causes, microbial growth, excessive food wastage, political and governmental factors, limited access to education and educational supplies and a lack of infrastructure and thus no way to manufacture products or ship them to the rest of the world (Holland, 2013). World hunger and the underlying causes are advertised in various ways on a daily basis through social media. These charity organizations primarily target the impacts and effects world hunger has on the world population. Charities promoting hunger have defiantly made me visualise world hunger in a different aspect, opening my eyes to the massive worldwide issue affecting many lives right this moment. Well-known charitable organizational...
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...Scarcity. This happens when human wants increase and supply decreases. Resources are means by which we make products that can be natural resources such as raw materials, human resource or manufactured resources such as oil. Scarcity, to a large extent can also be seen as a condition where no society has enough resources to produce all the goods and services necessary to satisfy all human wants. Due to the increase in wants people have to suffer severely. People are dying and suffering to receive food, water and space for them to live. Scarcity of water, land and food is the biggest issue in the world today. Many countries are suffering these issue for example Africa and India. Africa is currently suffering from scarcity of food. African famines have become more frequent, more widespread and more severe which cause the food shortage. Agricultural problems include soil infertility, land degradation and erosion, which can destroy whole crops and livestock diseases. People in Africa are facing harsh condition. There is a major percentage of people who are ill or are starving the food scarcity. One way that could help Africa alleviate food scarcity is to depend on imports from countries where food production is higher than demand or to buy food in large amounts for cheap prices. Many people suffer all around the world due to scarcity. Scarcity can lead to a large amount of deaths. The scarcity in Africa is a major issue. This is all about the increase in demand when the supply is...
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...WORLD FOOD CRISIS 1. There are three main basic human needs, one is food the other one is shelter and the last one is the clothing. Out of these three, food is very much important as it keeps the human alive. Today the world is having around seven point two billion people and the same time the demand for the food has been increased drastically. If we can increase the production of the food, there will not be a food crisis. But it has become a real challenge to cater the world requirement. 2. There are number of factors that caused to food crisis. population growth, urbanization, unfair distribution, climate change, green house effect, lack of interest by today generation and fuel price hike are some of them. It is obvious that we can’t find solutions alone, but as a world .Today we are living in a global system. In this, all are interconnected. As food crisis cause to many more other issues, there are number of other issues mainly due to the food as well. There is one more important fact that we can’t forget. That is food security. Today it has become one of prime factor. Lack of interest towards food security, is another prime factor for today world food crisis. 3. But there is no way of making food production proportional to the today requirement as population keep growing. But there are many what we can do to manage this issue. As this is a global issue we have to have some kind of organization in order to attend this. Today there are many international, local and non...
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...that should be asked is”Who and what is responsible?” in the survey; 88% of the respondents say that governments are responsible for this issue, while only 12% believe that citizens hold the responsibility, this could be explained by assuming that citizens are incapable of participating in determining effective solutions. However, it is fair to say that governments are partly responsible for the aggravation of this issue, but in reality there are so many natural causes behind the deterioration. One of the causes is climate change; in fact climate change is the main cause behind the food security problems for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that natural disasters result from climate change; famines worldwide are nothing but results of natural disasters, such as the famine in Haiti, 65% of the respondents said that climate change is the main reason for food security problems worldwide. The second reason is...
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...THIS is a brave and artful novel disguised to appear safe and conventional. One can read on for some time as if it were simply a ''terror stalks the high seas'' thriller, but one would be an uncommon fool to do so for very long. Joseph O'Connor, an Irish critic and playwright who is also the author of several previous novels, lures us into an easy read that, before we know it, becomes a chilling indictment not of a murderer but of us. As a London publisher says midway through the book, advising a writer unsuccessfully peddling his fiction, this is ''a good old thumping yarn,'' the sort of thing a reader can ''sink his tusks into.'' But ''Star of the Sea'' is also an agonizing inquiry into the nature of abandonment and the difficulty of finding anyone who will truly care about the fate of others. How large does suffering have to loom before we take notice? O'Connor suggests that we can tolerate mountains of misery, sipping our coffee and reading our newspapers as the corpses pile up beneath the headlines. The Star of the Sea is a leaky old tub sailing from Ireland to New York in the terrible winter of 1847, carrying in its staterooms a reluctantly intertwined collection of characters. The most noteworthy is an Irish aristocrat, David Merridith, Lord Kingscourt, whose Oxford training has shown him ''how to put on like a cheerful idiot'' while he's got his ''hands sliding around your neck.'' Merridith and his family are being stalked by a man named Pius Mulvey, who has been...
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