An Ethical Analysis of Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor by Garrett Hardin

“The greatest good you can do for another does not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own”<a href="https://medium.com/@swapnilmishra/analyzing-lifeboat-ethics-the-case-against-helping-the-poor-by-garrett-hardin-be217421775#_ftn1" rel="noopener ugc nofollow">[1]</a> — Benjamin Disraeli. This quote underlines the fact that everyone on earth has an equal right to an equal share of its environmental resources. In his article for Psychology Today titled “Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor”, Garrett Hardin argues against feeding the hungry (who would otherwise die from starvation) because these people have exceeded the ‘carrying capacity’ of their land. ‘Carrying capacity’ is understood the as the ability of land (and its resources) to sustain a population, that is, to keep that population alive by providing the resources needed. This advice raises the question of whether and to what extent human interests should supplant environmental interests when these interests conflict. “As a nation’s land has a limited capacity to support a population and as the current energy crisis has shown us, in some ways we have already exceeded the carrying capacity of our land.”<a href="https://medium.com/@swapnilmishra/analyzing-lifeboat-ethics-the-case-against-helping-the-poor-by-garrett-hardin-be217421775#_ftn2" rel="noopener ugc nofollow">[2]</a> <a href="https://medium.com/@swapnilmishra/analyzing-lifeboat-ethics-the-case-against-helping-the-poor-by-garrett-hardin-be217421775">Website</a>