Assignment 1: LASA 2—Critiquing an Article

Running Head: AMERICA'S SHAME 1

America's Shame

Name

Institution Affiliation

I have a lot of impressions from the article and but I am going to limit them to six, which I think are the most relevant and carry the heaviest weight. Today, the world is under the threat of absolute poverty where, reducing the number of individuals living in extreme poverty remains one of the greatest moral challenges in this age (Singer, 2009). It is a fact based impression based on statistical data from The United Nation’s Children Fund, and it ascertains that nearly ten million children under the age of five years die annually due to poverty related cases. Also, the World Bank defines poverty as an inability to meet basic needs with one’s income which it says that anyone who lives on less than one U.S. dollar per day is in abject poverty. In the world today, the number living under the poverty line is 1.4 billion (Leverenz, 2012). The main question arises in that even if the US gives more, will there be adequate medical practitioners to treat pneumonia, measles, malaria, and measles?

The second impression is that “fewer people are dying.” It is a fact based impression which proves that Public-health campaigns have greatly assisted in reducing the number of deaths of young children. In the year 1960, the number of deaths of young children was estimated to be around twenty million. The number has significantly reduced to less than ten million in 2007 (Singer, 2009). It is an impressive trend considering that in that duration, the population has doubled and it is an indication that people increased their awareness and thus the deaths are declining.

The other impression in the article regards teaching in schools on matters relating to poverty. As the article suggests, the United States is falling short of educating the students about poverty and related matters around the world. I can ascertain to that I was not taught much on this matter. As it is, the US does not take seriously to the idea that human life doesn’t diminish across boundaries and therefore it narrows what to teach in schools (Singer, 2009). If not, a high priority would be given to reduce the world poverty.

American generosity thinking and perspectives are the other impressions, and it is a fact based emotional and value-based impression. In the United States, students always suggest that America is a generous country and even me I thought the same way. However, I tend to question the generosity notion given the fact that America pays petite attention to people living in poverty beyond its borders. Also, whereas the US only gives 16% of foreign aid, other rich countries give a significantly high aid of 45% (Singer, 2009).

The fifth impression is value and fact-based, and it entails the Ignorance of the Americans in widespread helping the poorest people, and this has been shown in many surveys. Gallup International Association’s conducted a survey in 2005 to collect people’s views on how they think about America’s foreign aid. It is a question of whether the United States gives less or more aid to poor nations as compared to other rich nations in the same income level. It is clear that many thought that the US gave much aid and the ignorance makes them think so (Singer, 2009). However, only eight percent understands the correct answer.

The last impression pertains the ethical life of people in the developed countries. As the article suggests most of the people living in the developed nations are not living even a minimally decent ethical life. Most of the Americans spend their resources on luxury goods (Leverenz, 2012). Here, the question is, “is it necessary to spend on unnecessary items when the money we are spending could be used to save a life of the poor in other nations?’’

References

Leverenz, D. (2012). Honor Bound: Race and Shame in America. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press.

Singer, P. (2009). America’s shame. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(27), B6–B10. (EBSCO AN 37137370)