Asher Sisneros

This essay was written by Asher Sisneros. It was originally submitted as a college assignment to Professor Lynn Cates at Thomas Edison State University on March 16, 2026, and it was subsequently published here, on Ashersisneros.com. 

In “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” Peter Singer argues that it is murder to enjoy the luxuries of this life while there are still starving people in the world whose lives you could save. In the essay, he uses the movie Central Station to make his point (Singer 1999, p. 231). In the movie, a schoolteacher named Dora takes a young boy to an unknown address, thinking it is his home, in exchange for $1,000. After she takes the boy to the address, she finds out that it was all a lie, and those evil people plan on harvesting the boy’s organs. Either she can take the money back and try to save the boy’s life, or she can walk away with her $1,000-dollar reward and forget about the whole incident. After all, she is not killing the boy. She is just letting him die. Peter Singer, I think, rightfully argues that Dora should try to save the boy’s life. But then he takes that set of facts and applies it to the real world: It would be wrong for her to let the boy die when she can intervene, so why is it fine when we—in the flourishing west—refuse to feed starving people in impoverished countries? As a utilitarian, Singer says that we have the same moral obligation to feed the hungry that Dora has to save the boy because they have the same effect (1999, p. 232). In both cases, someone dies. 

The reality is that there is a difference between letting someone die vis-a-vis nature running its course and letting someone die when you are the one who put them in that life-threatening position in the first place, which was the case with Dora in Central Station. To deal with that reality, Singer borrows an analogy (1999, pp. 232-33) from Peter Unger. As the analogy goes, there is a man named Bob who is close to retirement. He owns a Bugatti. It is his pride and joy—his everything in life—but he plans to sell it once he retires. A train is rolling down a set of tracks, and it is on its way to hit an innocent little girl. For some reason (a very odd reason, indeed), Bob’s Bugatti is on another set of tracks, and Bob alone has the power to use the switch to divert the train away from the child and towards his prized Bugatti. Is it his moral responsibility to take initiative to pull the switch, save the girl’s life, and destroy his Bugatti? Peter Singer says that it is. Even if it cost more than the Bugatti to save the girl’s life—even if it cost his own limbs—it would still be his responsibility to save the girl’s life. After all, one life is of greater value than one arm or thumb or Bugatti. Similarly, Singer says that it is our responsibility to wisely use all of our resources to save as many lives as possible. So long as there are still people in the world who are starving, we have a responsibility to only spend the bare minimum that we need to survive, and we should use the rest to feed the poor (Singer 1999, p. 236).

Of course, Dora’s situation in the movie Central Station is very, very extreme. Almost no one will be in a position even remotely similar to hers. Instead, they will spend all of their lives getting up every morning, going to work, and coming back from work. Some will enjoy their work; others will not. Some will get married and have children; others will not. But none of these people will accidentally sell a child to an organ harvester and face the internal conflict over whether they should save the child or not. Maybe so, but they will spend money, they will buy luxuries, and they will always have the option to donate money to charity. Singer’s cry is simple: whenever you make a purchase, consider the moral cost. Consider the lives you could have saved. 

Reference

Singer, P. (Sep. 5, 1999). The Singer solution to world poverty. The New York Times. In Russ 

Schafer-Landau (Ed.), The ethical life: Fundamental readings in ethics and moral problems, 4th Ed. Oxford University Press.