3.1 Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor

Argument: World Food Bank has problems.

Imagine waking up to the stench of your own body odor, as your stomach loudly rumbles due to the uncontrollable hunger that over whelms you while you are laying in the cold dirty street that was your home for the night. Though this is an over exaggerated scenario, two thirds of the world is poor. Many believe that a World Food Bank will help the poor gain stability, but it just causes a greater dependency the poor people will have over the rich while the gap between the two classes continue to grow.

The idea of the World Food Bank is for the world to have a backup plan in any emergency that may occur. Strong governments already have systems to help in such cases. In the Lifeboat Ethics, the author questions what would be an appropriate “emergency” to take out of the World Food Bank. He makes a logical point. Anyone can interpret what an emergency is differently. If such food bank would be created, guidelines would have to be taken into effect to limit confusion. It is good to have a safety net for times of needs.

Another side of the argument is the poorer countries would keep taking without giving back their share of the resources. With that, the giving countries would keep giving and never really take back. So those countries would be supporting the whole world when they could possibly not even have what is needed to support themselves in needy times. What would stop the poor from taking advantage of the resources greedily? How can the world prevent the greed? In order for the bank to work, with equality within country classes as the goal, fairness in distribution of supplies would have to be established.

Greed could result in poor countries taking what they can every slight chance they possibly could. With growing population they would continue to need more supplies and even though the food bank may help the current circumstance, it will continue to widen the gap that lies between the poor and the wealthy. Poor counties are like rabbits, multiplying rapidly. The need in those countries will never cease to exist if actions to fix internal problems are faced and dealt with. The rich could only hold the poor for so long. With the poor replying on the backup plan, it is possible that in dramatic times of true need, the backup plan could fail causing even more turmoil within a vulnerable country.

A World Food Bank will cause the poor to become dependent on a backup plan to where internal problems are never fixed and thus the food bank would be a failure for the purpose it would be created. Greed could result in a greater social divide within the lifeboat of a country within a vast planet. Now imagine countries that were able to support each other in times of need without abusing the availability of the supplies given to them and the world no longer having to worry about the smelly, poor hobos living on the side of the road.