Suffering

I found Singer's article to be fascinating. In the analogy of a man choosing between saving his car and saving a child it was very easy to be astounded and indignant that he would choose his car. However, it is clear that we choose our own relatively wealthy lifestyles instead of donating our money (our cars) to children (and adults) in the world who need it. How far should we go? In the analogy I quickly concluded that the man should let himself be injured to the extent that both him and the child survive. In real life this looks like giving all your money to others so that they can live and only keeping what you need to survive. This is problematic, though. I think that this theory assumes that the quality of ones life is determined by their money. I think that giving money to save lives is important but I do not think that we all need to be financially equal in order for the world to be just and fair. Furthermore, I think that we do have a responsibility to recognize people's needs economically but I also think that money is not the only solution to people's problems. People who lack money need more than just donations.

I think that suffering comes in many forms. There is the financial and basic suffering of poverty that Singer talked about, and then there is emotional suffering, physical suffering and mental suffering. I think that all of this suffering is alike in that it makes people stronger. Even poverty allows its victims to find agency, be resourceful, work hard and find meaning in something other than material goods. For instance, in King Lear, his own suffering leads to him becoming a wiser person, one more willing to accept his mistakes and blame. Furthermore, when he experiences emotional suffering at the hands of his daughters, Lear becomes physically more capable and able to endure in order to distract himself from the other pain. Suffering is like a paradox becomes it appears to make you weak but really can make you strong. It is necessary to help out others but it is difficult to quantify how much help to give.