A part in the reading that stuck out to me was where Southan references an essay by Peter Singer called Famine, Affluence, and Morality. He purposes a thought that says “Suppose you saw a child drowning in a pond: would you jump in and rescue her, even if you hadn’t pushed her in? Even if it meant ruining your clothes?” Automatically I thought to myself, “Yes, of course!” and made a note on the reading. He then goes on to say that most of us would jump in to save the girl, but we neglect to help those dying of poverty and preventable disease all over the world and we could easily help them. I feel like these two different scenarios are related but also very different. Jumping into a pond although it saves a little girl’s life is a smaller issue then trying to fix poverty all together. Singer then says “Any break we take from working to reduce suffering throughout the world is like having a leisurely nap beside a lake where thousands of children are screaming for our help.” I commented, “Wow!” It put into perspective that you don’t have to solve the issue of people dying of poverty and preventable disease in one day, but, taking a small step everyday to help them will hopefully in the end decrease the issue.It means that we need to continually dedicate ourselves to bettering the issues that negatively impact people. Singly one person can not cure it all. However, if we each do our part, the combination of our efforts will make an impact. When my aunt was struggling to make ends meet after leaving her abusive husband and being left in debt from his bad business choices and alcoholism, trying to raise her three boys and manage a house, my mother would buy groceries for her, her church would help her with home repairs and friends helped her with debt. These combined efforts saw her through and helped her to see the light at the end of her tunnel.
Another part of the reading that stuck out to me was where it says, “This is often what EA comes down to: working hard to earn money and then giving it as much of it as you can to the needy. Good deeds come in many forms, of course, and there are other ways of making a difference.” My initial thought was, “I think it is good to give to the needy, but, there is a fine line.” My issue is the phrase that says giving as much as you can to the needy. So I do believe that good deeds come in many forms, and one of those forms is empowering the needy to find success for themselves, by providing the resources, that would allow them to become self sufficient, and give them the tools they need to get a job.
Taylor,
Your website is off to a great start. I enjoyed reading your About Me page and learning more about you. I am excited that you are on the women’s hockey team. I have wanted to take my family to a game for a while now–My dad used to play when he was in high school. I can also respect that you are a woman of “few words.” Believe it or not, I think this trait could serve you well as you write papers for my class and beyond.
I think your annotations are off to a good start. I love how you are working with the digital medium. Your photos look great! When you write in your first thread that, “Jumping into a pond although it saves a little girl’s life is a smaller issue then trying to fix poverty all together” you hit on something important. This analogy is powerful and difficult to wrestle with, but you located a flaw in its broad application. Sharp thinking!