Research Essay
As we live our lives, we tend to encounter various challenges every day. Our own thinking brings some of these challenges while other challenges are brought by the paradigms created by the society. Since the world has all kinds of people, we are likely to encounter the rich, poor, unhealthy, and healthy people in our daily interactions. These interactions are sometimes challenging, as we tend to question ourselves on how much we can do to help the world’s poor and the unhealthy people. This challenge presents itself in two ways. In one way, we personally feel that it is human to help and therefore, might feel challenged if we cannot help or maybe our help is not good enough. The second way this challenge presents itself is through the thinking introduced to us by the society where the society has made it seem like it is mandatory for one to help the needy. As an individual, one will be troubled by the fact that they might feel that they have other obligations that they need to attend to before helping. Therefore, they are left feeling morally broken by their inability to help or their inability to help as much as they think they should do. This research essay will center on charity contributions to the poor people in the world, exploring whether people have a duty to contribute their income beyond a certain point to the world’s poor. The essay will weigh into the issue arguing that people have no duty to contribute their income beyond a certain point to the world’s poor.
The fact that a person earns income that can cater for their necessary needs and go on to cater for various other luxurious needs does not mean that such an individual has a duty of giving a part of their income to the poor people in the world. Giving is a charitable act that is guided by an individual’s charitableness. If one does not feel that they are ready to give, then they should not be coerced into doing so as they deserve to spend their rightfully earned money in a way they feel is most appropriate for them. According to Ayn Rand in the essay “ The Ethics of Emergencies”, sacrificing what you value more for what you value less cannot be considered rational (Rand, 1963). Therefore, an individual who values spending their money on luxurious things more than donating to the poor should not be considered irrational. The rationality of an individual should be judged in terms of what they value more since spending more on what one has placed a lesser value will leave them feeling guilty of a wrong decision, which leads to discomfort for the individual. According to Peter Singer in his essay “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”, a normal family in the U.S.A. spends nearly one-third of their income on things considered less of a necessity to them (Singer,1999). In his view, going out to nice restaurants, purchasing new clothes, and vacationing in nice restaurants are some of the unnecessary things that people need to stop spending their money on and instead donate this money to the needy people around the world. However, as previously stated, even though it may sound morally right for one to give up their luxurious spending so that they can help the poor, it is not right to force them into thinking that it is the right thing to do with their money. A person needs to sit down and budget their money with the things they value most taking the largest percentage (Richins & Dawson, 1992). If they value giving more, then they will give a higher amount. Spending money in accordance to the value placed on different things allows the individual to live comfortably, knowing that they spent their money the right way. Therefore, people have no duty of contributing their income beyond a certain point to the poor people in the world. One should outline the value they have placed on various things including giving and give the amount they feel is most appropriate for them to give.
When one is working to make money, they do it for various reasons above the common need of sustaining their basic needs. Some people are working hard in their businesses and place of work so that they can purchase a luxurious car (Lamont, 1992). Other people are working hard so that they can go for a holiday in the Caribbean Islands during the summer. Once they earn their intended amount, it is clear that they will have placed a higher value on these things more than giving, as they were not working that hard so that they can sacrifice the entire amount to the poor people. Singer in his essay presents the case of Bob who uses his savings on a Bugatti. Bob is in a dilemma where he can save either a child or his Bugatti from an oncoming train. Bob decides to save the Bugatti instead. According to Singer, this situation is similar to the situation where most people in the world, have a chance of saving a child’s life but choose not to. This thinking can be refuted by looking at Ayn’s argument in her essay where she presents her Objectivism view. She argues that the highest moral purpose of individuals is the achievement of their own happiness. One should not sacrifice things that make them happy for the things that the society thinks are morally right (Ryff, 1989). In this case, Bob might have decided to save the child but lose his Bugatti, which he had spent his entire savings to purchase. However, Bob would be left feeling devastated considering that he had lost his precious car so that he can save a child he never knew. It is obvious that Bob will spend the rest of his life unhappy with this decision, implying that he would have made the wrong decision as far as his happiness is concerned. Bob’s situation is similar to real life situation where people are told to give much of their income to the poor. However, if these people are not comfortable with the decision, they might give and remain feeling unhappy. It is therefore not morally right for one to feel that they are entitled to give a certain amount of their income to the world’s poor. One should give the amount they feel is right for them to give (Becker, 1974).
The view that an individual holds in life is very essential in their everyday happiness and existence. In case an individual views the world as a sad place full of various catastrophes and negativity, they are likely to be clouded by such thoughts in their daily life, implying that they are less likely to be happy. One clear thing is that the thoughts of an individual are very influential on how they lead their daily lives. People viewing the world negatively will spend their life living a negative life (Diener et al.2003). In his essay, Singer believes that he does not see any reason for people limiting how much they give. He claims that he does not see any reason as to why every person that has wealth surplus to their basic needs should not be giving most of their help to people that suffer from poverty that is sometimes life-threatening. He goes on to conclude that one should not buy a new car, take a cruise, redecorate their house, or purchase a pricey suit. This is a wrong assertion. Ayn calls such an argument the ethics of altruism, where primary importance is placed on helping other people. According to Ayn, altruism has some psychological effects on an individual. An individual might start viewing the world like a nightmare of existence where men are trapped in a universe full of disasters and other life threatening situations. When an individual is coerced into thinking that the world is in such abject poverty and they need to sacrifice all their income above their basic needs so that they can help the poor, their psychology will be affected. The individual will start viewing the world in a negative way. The individual will start holding negative thoughts in their brain and their existence will start becoming unpleasant. Therefore, people have no duty of donating their income above the basic needs. This may affect their psychology and cause them to start leading a negative and unpleasant life (Smallwood & O'Connor, 2011). Even though helping others is an issue of primary importance, it is not as important as the happiness and daily existence of an individual. One must live comfortably under their own terms before they start giving.
In everyday working of an individual, they have various goals and targets to achieve (Salmela-Aro, 2009). For instance, one maybe working hard to move to a bigger house in the next two years, or they might be working hard to make more money so that they can pursue a higher level of education. However, as human beings it always feels good to help others in certain situations. Therefore, we can help especially in emergency cases but it does not mean that we will go helping every individual we meet otherwise; we might be unable to pursue and reach our goals. In his essay, Singer believes that we should donate all our income that is beyond our basic needs. This is a wrong idea since the income beyond our basic needs is what is used to ensure progress in our lives. The income beyond our basic needs is what can be saved until it has reached a point where it is enough to purchase that new house. This income beyond the basic needs is what can be used to pay fees for an individual pursuing their master’s level degree. According to Ayn, people choose their goals and project them in time, start pursuing them, and by employing their own efforts, end up achieving these goals. Ayn believes that it is impossible for a person to achieve these goals if they are at the mercy of the misfortunes that are happening to other people around the world. It is impossible to extend the principle that one should help people in an emergency to all the human suffering around the world. Such a situation would mean that one has turned other people’s misfortunes to their own misfortune. The right thing for one to do is help people up to a level that will not interfere with their progress in life: a level that does not reduce their ability to pursue and achieve their goals. It is not right to help world’s poor and remain stuck in one position in life (Sachs,2005). Therefore, people have no duty of giving a certain part of their income to the poor. One should give the amount they feel is right for them to give and the amount that allows them to pursue and achieve their goals in life.
Conclusion
Helping the poor people in the world is an issue of contention in the contemporary society considering that the rich people are becoming richer while the poor people are becoming poorer. Some people feel that it is not right for one to lead a luxurious life while another person is languishing in poverty and can barely afford a single meal in a day. However, one must note that when a person earns their wealth rightfully, they have the freedom of spending this wealth in a way they feel is best for them. If one feels they will not give any amount to the poor, then that is okay. If they feel that they will give a small amount, then that is okay as well. Even if they give half of their wealth, that is okay as long as they are comfortable with the decision. However, it is wrong for people to be coerced into thinking that they have an obligation of contributing their income beyond a certain point to the world’s poor.
References
Singer, P. (1999). The Singer solution to world poverty. The New York Times Magazine, 5, 60-63.
Rand, A. (1963). The ethics of emergencies. The Virtue of Selfishness, 43-49.
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of consumer research, 19(3), 303.
Lamont, M. (1992). Money, morals, and manners: The culture of the French and the American upper-middle class. University of Chicago Press.
Becker, G. (1974). A theory of social interactions. . Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 82, No. 6.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of personality and social psychology, 57(6), 1069.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual review of psychology, 54(1), 403-425.
Smallwood, J., & O'Connor, R. C. (2011). Imprisoned by the past: unhappy moods lead to a retrospective bias to mind wandering. Cognition & emotion, 25(8), 1481-1490.
Salmela-Aro, K. (2009). Personal goals and well-being during critical life transitions: The four C's—Channelling, choice, co-agency and compensation. Advances in Life Course Research, 14(1), 63-73.
Sachs, J. D. (2005). Can extreme poverty be eliminated?. Scientific American, 293(3), 56-65.
Annotated Bibliography
Singer, P. (1999). The Singer solution to world poverty. The New York Times Magazine, 5, 60-63.
In this essay, the author looks into the issue of giving to the poor in the world. Various situations and theories are presented in this essay as the author tries to convince the reader that it is good for one to give a part of their income that is above the basic needs to help the people that are living in poverty around the world. This essay will be used in the research essay to show the arguments that are being proposed to encourage people to sacrifice more of their income to help poor people.
Rand, A. (1963). The ethics of emergencies. The Virtue of Selfishness, 43-49.
This essay focuses on the virtue of selfishness and deals with the moral basis of how people should help others in emergencies. The author focuses on altruism and objectivism where she argues primary importance should be placed on one’s happiness (objectivism) instead of prioritizing helping others (altruism). This essay is beneficial in the research essay, as it will assist in refuting the proponents of the idea that people have a duty of giving a part of their income above the basic needs.
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of consumer research, 19(3), 303.
This article analyzes the various constructs of materialism and comes into a conclusion that materialism should be conceptualized in terms of consumer value. The article shows that people place a higher value on higher income and financial security, with less emphasis being placed on interpersonal relationships. This article will be beneficial in my research essay as it shows that people have to budget their income in terms of what is more important to them before they can give some to the poor.
Lamont, M. (1992). Money, morals, and manners: The culture of the French and the American upper-middle class. University of Chicago Press.
This is a look into the lives of 160 successful men in the United States. The upper middle class are analyzed to find the values and attitudes that separate them from the rest of the classes. This book is a revelation that unequal social groups in the society are important. It will be important in my research essay, as it will show why some people value the luxuries of life such as vacations and fast cars.
Becker, G. (1974). A theory of social interactions. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 82, No. 6.
This is an essay incorporating modern consumer demand theory to the normal treatment of social interactions. Section of the essay analyzes implications in social interactions for multi-personal interactions, charitable behavior, and intra-family relations. This essay will be vital in my research essay as it shows the importance of individuals being charitable to a level that they feel is comfortable for them.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of personality and social psychology, 57(6), 1069.
This article explores the measures of psychological well-being and discovers that they have little theoretical grounding. The study found that positive relations with others have little value on one’s happiness. One’s happiness relied on their own thoughts and their general perception of situations and relations with others. This article is vital in my research essay, as it will show the importance of positive perception of life for an individual.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual review of psychology, 54(1), 403-425.
This article looks into the issue of subjective well-being and finds that personality dispositions including extraversion and self-esteem have a huge influence on one’s subjective well-being. The article explores the fact that apart from personality, life circumstances play a significant role in influencing the long-term subjective-wellbeing of an individual. This article will be important for my research essay as it shows that life circumstances shape our thoughts and will therefore influence our subjective well-being. In relation to giving to the poor, constant reminder that a huge number of people require help will lead to reduced subjective well-being.
Smallwood, J., & O'Connor, R. C. (2011). Imprisoned by the past: unhappy moods lead to a retrospective bias to mind wandering. Cognition & emotion, 25(8), 1481-1490.
This article looks into mind wandering and the fact that it causes unhappiness. Further experiments are carried and they end up proving that mind wandering increases unhappiness. In relation to my research essay, this article is beneficial in showing that coercing people to give more of their income will lead to mind-wandering and eventual unhappiness.
Salmela-Aro, K. (2009). Personal goals and well-being during critical life transitions: The four C's—Channelling, choice, co-agency and compensation. Advances in Life Course Research, 14(1), 63-73.
This article presents a life-span model on motivation that involves four core processes. The article shows that personal goals are crucial in transitioning through critical stages of one’s life. This article will assist me in my research essay as I try to prove that most people are working on personal goals that are more important than giving a huge part of their income to charity.
Sachs, J. D. (2005). Can extreme poverty be eliminated?. Scientific American, 293(3), 56-65.
In this article, the author explores the possible solution to the poverty that is affecting large parts of the world today. Sachs suggests that science and technology together with reinforcement of the need for people to acquire wealth are the two possible solutions to the extreme poverty that exists in the world. This article is important in my research essay, as it will show that is right for one to stop accumulating wealth and focus on helping the poor. One should help the poor while still focusing in gaining more wealth for themselves.
