Poverty Reading Response

An argument of lack of consideration for all sides of the child labor issue is presented and strongly supported by the educated Chitra Divakaruni in her article "Live Free and Starve." It is absolutely imperative that as a strong nation, America supports the citizens of other countries who must deal with lowered standards in their homes. However, before acting upon our humane instincts, we must attempt to see issues from all perspectives. Divakaruni is able to see right to possible aftershocks due to her past in a country where the child labor issue stands out as one of the greatest national problems. While reading this article, my bias was my conservative thinking. From the start, I was searching for a reason extreme liberalism would not be the best answer. I completely support humanitarian aid attempts in countries where basic necessities are not available to everyone and innocent people are denied rights that Americans take for granted. Yet, like Divakaruni stated in her introduction, I am skeptical of any "quick fixes" in the world. There are always two sides to an issue. The possibility that children could be left without a way to survive is unacceptable and we must find a way to refine the current plan for dealing with child labor.

In the article "The Singer Solution to World Poverty", Peter Singer discusses the idea that wealthy people of the world are morally obligated to sacrifice their expendable income for the well-being of children in foreign countries. An unavoidable bias I found during my reading of this was that I, myself, am still a child by American standards. Singer repeatedly mentioned scenarios in which children were innocent victims. After discussing the issue of protecting children with my parents many times in the past few years, I have come to believe that it is the responsibility of adults to care for children as long as they cannot fend for themselves. The inability to provide food and shelter at an early age leaves children vulnerable and the primary target for hunger, abuse by adults, etc. Americans are, generally, programmed with a selfish mindset. To polish our tarnished reputation, we must, as a nation, find a way to be more financially involved in the issues of the world- protecting of innocent children, spreading civil rights to all countries, and so on. This begins with involvement of the wealthy who can afford to sacrifice a nickel and dime every now and then. This being said, it also crucial that we avoid falling prey to scams by finding trustworthy programs to develop relationships with.