Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping The Poor

Lifeboat Ethics: The Case against Helping the Poor

Introduction

Garret Hardin talks about lifeboat ethics which is a whole antithesis to the human race helping the poor people and those facing difficulties, in the article about Lifeboat Ethics, The Case against Helping the Poor. To express his opinion the author uses a metaphor that involves a lifeboat and classifies the world into rich countries together with poor countries. The rich countries are equated to individuals inside a lifeboat, as the poor ones are likened to individuals found outside the lifeboat. This brings about many assumptions that depicts the dangers plus harm that is involved to make the rich nations assist the poor ones.

The need for rich countries to help poor countries

The article describes the disparity involving the spaceship ethic that individuals can share resources as all persons are equal and the lifeboat ethic encourages sharing of resources. He uses the same ethics to insist that rich countries should not help the poor countries. He argues that lack of resources and the tragedy of the commons together with inefficient governments in the world with no authority to control reproduction have contributed to the problems in the poor nations. He emphasizes the use of available resources appropriately and individual’s actions should be led by the lifeboat ethics. However, the idea of the lifeboat ethics seems ridiculous as it is founded on a wrong metaphor that comprises both poor and rich countries. This means that the interpretation of the rich nations is acting the role of Jesus as the poor nations continue to become paupers who contribute nothing in the world but wait for others to assist them. This metaphor is not fair in that it distorts the relationship and overstresses the differences depicted between the poor countries and rich nations (Reiman 267.

It is a widespread knowledge that in the modern society, there are no countries that can exist without the principle of inter communication together with mutual benefit. Even the wealthy nations and strong like the United State always imports foreign help when the country feels it is necessary. The country is one of the biggest customers of gasoline worldwide. Each year the country is forced to import a lot of Gasoline from countries that form OPEC, which can be considered poor countries. If these countries were not in existence then it means the American economy would collapse rapidly. Immediately after the Tsunami that occurred in New Orleans, without the assistance of from other countries in the world, it would be intricate for the country to make progress from the challenges they experienced. In this scenario, how could America be always the individuals found inside the boat or the people rescuing others?

Another issue is the lifeboat metaphor does not take into consideration the