The power of guilt

While reading the words of Peter Singer I often saw myself as one of those privileged who could change the life of someone less fortunate. Singer asks readers this question "In the end, what is the ethical distinction of a Brazilian who sells a child to organ peddlers and an American who already has TV and upgrades to a better one knowing that the money could be donated to an organization that would use it to save the lives of kids in need?" and truthfully I couldn't answer that question, I was split between two answers.

When it comes to the Brazilian who hasn't had a taste of wealth it is very different from the American standpoint. I feel like there is a major guilt factor because you are directly trading a material object for a life and you saved that person from the streets just to get murdered. Yes, this world is only good to the survivalist or the strongest and you have to do whatever you can to gain an edge but having to sell another person is more on your conscious than not donating. And sad to say that that may be the only thing that stops things like that from happening, when you don't have anything you start to want things and are willing to do horrible things if desperation begins to kick in. The difference is having nothing and willing to do anything for something that you think you deserve vs. spending money on unnecessary things to brag about , money is burning a whole in your pocket, or because we are unhappy with ourselves so we buy things for momentary happiness.

Now from an American standpoint, we don't have it nearly as bad in this situation. I say that because it was stated as if we come from money unlike the Brazilian, and we never got put in a difficult situation like having to trade a life for a personal desire let alone a street kid who put their faith into you to change their lives. Also we wouldn't have as nearly as heavy of a guilty conscious because we didn't meet with the people that we won't donate to and on a daily basis they don't cross our mind. So truly there is no guilt factor unless your unwillingness to not donate is pointed out to you personally or publicly.

Now after writing this I see that there is a difference and a big one at that, we as Americans don't have that same guilt factor and never will.