What a Billionaire Should Give-- and What Should You?
Peter Singer
pages 804-811
The general argument made by Peter Singer in his work What a Billionaire Should Give-- and What Should You? is that helping other people and being charitable is a much better quality and is a responsibility that humans have to one another. More specifically, he is saying that while everyone can't donate $6 billion to charities, everyone has a part to play when it comes to helping their fellow man. He writes, "Why are people who are giving doing so? Does it do any good? Should we praise them for giving so much or criticize them for not giving still more? Is it troubling that such momentous decisions are made by a few extremely wealthy individuals? And how do our judgments about them reflect on our own way of living?" (page 805) Here, he is basically saying that while there is a very small percentage of people who do way more than others, they shouldn't be respected or criticized anymore than the average Joe. Everyone has the responsibility to give back, it's just that some can more than others.
In my opinion Singer is definitely right. It's everybody's responsibility to help others in any way that they can, whether it is that you're a billionaire and can give away millions at a time or whether it is that you're a student at school and you help by accepting everyone in the halls, not just your friends. For example, giving to charity is a fantastic way to help but not everyone can. Giving back can be as simple as volunteering for a few hours somewhere in your community. In conclusion, I agree that everyone should give back and society shouldn't just rely on the wealthy to help the poor.
