When I decided to stop eating meat my sophomore year, my older brother told me about Singer. My brother is interested in philosophy, and had read a lot of Singer's work. He told me that Singer wrote a lot about being vegetarian, giving all money you don't need away, and that I may find him very interesting. I never tried to find anything that Singer wrote on my own, but now that we read one of his articles, I am very interested.
What I first noticed after reading Singer's article is that I felt guilty. My first reaction was "this guy is crazy", and realized I probably just thought that because he made a lot of sense. My parents pay for everything I need. I live in a house, I have clothes, and my mom goes grocery shopping pretty much every day. However, I still work and don't give away that disposable income to people in need, I put it in my savings account, buy food out, or go shopping.
Although Singer makes a lot of sense, there is a reason many people feel angry after reading his ideas. Clearly, most people prefer to save their money for themselves, whether they are indulging or making sure they are financially secure in the future. Either way, even if people donate regularly, they want to keep most of their money. This is a common human trait, and even super rich people go to extreme lengths in order to make even more money. People are greedy.
Singer makes good points and uses a lot of logic. However, I don't think his ideas are completely realistic, no matter how wonderful and ethical they are. It would be interesting to see more people like Singer in the world, who are greedy for doing good and not money. The world would definitely be a completely different place.
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