Lifeboat Ethics Essay

In the article “Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor”, the author Garrett Hardin raised the question that whether the rich countries should help people suffer from poverty. He claimed that the supporting strategies for the developing countries, including the World Food Bank could result in more severe recourse inadequate issue and other disasters. In addition, a large number of immigrants flood in the US could ruin the natural environment and social balance. In that case, the author argued that regardless of the current situation, privileged nations should not provide aid to people trapped within difficulties of the underdeveloped nations. Even though, his

It can always be nice to imagine that you can go from very poor to very rich but in America, that’s not the case. According to a recent study, 70% of those born in low income families remained in the lower income bracket. Out of the remaining 30%, only 24% reached middle-class or upper- class and 4% rose to become high income earners (Hargreaves). Now, it is very difficult for people born into the lower class to rise up to the middle or upper class. These people that do successfully rise up have to have certain characteristics. 53% were college graduates, 50% were two income families, 35% were white, and 34% did not experience unemployment (Hargreaves). Most people in low- income families cannot afford college and student loans. This makes them less likely to become part of the middle class. Poor people do not have the resources to strive and become part of the other social classes. Overall, it is becoming more and more difficult for low- income families to become part of the middle class.

In the essay Lifeboat Ethics by Garrett Hardin and the essay A Challenge to the Eco-Doomsters by Walter Benjamin, there are many things I agree and disagree with. Both essays make very good points with facts to back them up. But I can’t help but side with Hardin on his essay Lifeboat Ethics. In this essay I am going to compare and contrast some of the similarities and differences between Hardin and Benjamin’s essays about the aid the United States provides to poor nations all over the world by reducing pollution, controlling population growth, and the dependency of economical imports and exports.

Income Inequality in America is a problem that’s been going on for decades, and many feel that it hardly exists, the many people that feel that way are highly uneducated, and seem to not really care about this tremendous problem that in one’s eyes really has no end in the near future, in fact it has been gradually rising and one feels that it’s just not fair. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done, only of course if the poor class of people decide to actually educate themselves and get a higher education. One says poor class, simply because that’s how they’re classified. There are five types of levels that Americans are classified as, and they are: 1. Upper Class, 2. Upper Middle Class, 3. Middle Class, 4. Working Class, 5. Poor.

In Garrett Hardin’s essay, Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor, Hardin describes the wealthy population of the world as being in a single lifeboat that is almost filled until buckling while the poor population of the world treads water below. Hardin’s essay gets his readers to feel the natural instinct to survive. The lifeboat metaphor that Hardin uses relieves the wealthy population of their moral obligations to the less fortunate, but in addition, puts all of the blame and cause of the depletion of earth’s resources on the poor. As much as his argument may make sense,

Income inequality has been seen throughout different societies. It has always been separated with the poor on bottom and the rich on top. Most societies in past and present have had little to no movement between the separations of classes. The reality for the poor in most of those societies is that they can almost never get to the level and quality of life of the rich. America compared to other societies in our past and present is a society that strongly believes in the idea of “The American Dream”. The American Dream gives hope to some people below the rich that they can someday be as prosperous as the rich if they work hard enough for it and show that they are capable. This idea implies that it is possible for anyone whether the person is middle or low class. It is not possible for low-income workers in America to move to the upper class because they lack the resources for better jobs, they are racially or ethnically discriminated in the workforce and the upper class takes most of the income in the US.

Nowadays, the middle class is shrinking, while majority of people are either moving into the lower or upper classes. This is due to the major economic and policy changes that have occurred throughout the past thirty years. Based on the Basic Economy Security Tables, one in four full-time working-age adults are not earning enough income to meet economic needs for themselves or their families. This is a serious problem in America today, the fact that the median income today is six hundred dollars less than it was in 1989 is proof of this epidemic. It is much harder now, than ever, to work your way into the middle class, much less stay there. The percentage income growth since 1967 for the top 5 percent of earners is 88%, top 20 percent of earners grew 70%, and middle-income households only grew 20%. (Camp) In simpler terms, the upper classes income has increased tremendously, while middle-income households have seen very little growth in their income. Since the middle class is not receiving any income growth, it is declining and moving towards the lower class. It is not nearly as easy as it was thirty years ago to get a decent job and make

This is the scenario of the Lifeboat Ethics in which Hardin relates this lifeboat to the space ship Earth. It goes that the lifeboat is the wealth nations and the people in the water are the poor or unfortunate. All ethic beliefs have flaws and strong points, as you will see in the following explanations. The 5 ethical theories have a one or two examples explaining how someone would go about making this decision from the view of: Divine Command Theory, Egoism, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, and Natural Law. All five have ethic believes do justice, but have flaws, and strong point. An ethic theory to solve a problem is good. Following

On top of it all the rich seem to get richer, spending their money on bigger houses, better cars, always trying to out do each other while the middle class continues to struggle. Paul Krugman describes this very well by saying,

Even though having the “poor class” is a necessary evil needed for society to function, most Americans, at some point in time, will experience what it is like to live in poverty or live below the poverty line. One main reason for having a high percentage of people living in poverty is because the U.S. policy makers have ignored the poor and have given tax breaks to those with a much higher income. Funding for welfare was slashed and extended unemployment benefits were ended. With little success with the economic reform the United States has been going through for the past five years, about 14.5 percent of Americans are still living under the poverty line.

Garrett Hardin’s excerpt from “Lifeboat Ethics” first appeared in Psychology Today in September 1974. In this essay, there is a metaphor that rich and poor are very different. I strongly disagree with Hardin’s metaphor even though he is truthful about his beliefs. The metaphor is only being seen in one point of view, when there are multiple ways of looking at it.

I am not from the middle class. I am not an old white man. I am not from a white picket fenced house in suburbia with 2.5 children and parents that are still married. I am not happy, mentally nor with my life. I am from below the poverty line. I am a young woman. I am from the parts of town nobody wishes to live in with 3 siblings, 2 that I helped raise and parents that were never together. I am living with bipolar disorder and anxiety. The system was never designed to help me, America was never designed to cater to me. I am not a product of the American Dream, I am a product of class separation, and mental health stigma.

- [ ] Cunningham talks about the different views that people might have of ethics. “'It's about the differences between right and wrong.” “It tells you how you're supposed to act.” “Rules for good behavior.” “How we should live'" (pg 21). He goes on to explain that this is how most people view ethics courses, people in general believe that ethics should be applied to hard case studies. He gives one of the most basic example of a case study that nearly all ethics classes are given "'You're one of five people stranded at sea in a lifeboat. You have food and water for only four people. How do you decide what to do?'" (pg 21). This example is used so often that it has turned into a standard exercise for ethics discussions called lifeboat ethics. This way of thinking limits the way people look at ethics. He argues that most people think that ethics can only be applied to life boat

Earth is a spaceship. No single person has the authority to destroy it, waste it or use all of its resources. There is no singular leader of the entire world, therefore there is no captain of the spaceship. “But does everyone on earth have an equal right to an equal share of its resources?” (Hardin 1).

A major problem that has affected many Americans has been going on for decades and is still an issue today. The unequal distribution of wealth has impacted middle class and poor families and Americans all over, but has not affected the rich as much. There have been multiple setbacks that have impacted the middle class and lower, including significant ones such as the Great Depression and the Great Recession. Numerous factors go into the economy and there has not been a clear solution to help raise the middle class and lower up in the economy. While these classes are struggling, the rich get richer and are not impacted as much. The wage gaps have been growing even wider, which also has a significant impact on the lower economic classes because their wages are not going up like the upper classes are. Although the economy and stock market is growing, it still does not impact the middle class as much. The government has been trying to find ways to stimulate this and make the middle classes grow, but the ways that they go about it have not worked. The thought of using a progressive tax to tax the rich more so that more money goes to the lower classes sounds like it is a possibility, but that is not the case, as there needs to be a focus on certain ways to make more jobs while boosting the lower classes up in the economy. If Pro-poor policies are implemented with Pro-growth, it will stimulate economic growth as more jobs will be created and the lower economic classes will rise and