Water Buffalo

For our homework, we were asked to watch the short movie "4 Generations", and juxtapose it with the Singer solution essay. After viewing the short film, I realized that if I were to ever help out overseas, I would want to do what Robert Thompson did in his film instead of what Peter Singer suggested. Singer's thoughts were to give all the money you could to others who needed it more, while Robert Thompson chose to do a simple but truly wonderful act upon a needy family. The 4 generations video sent out a message opposing Singer's, which was that sometimes you can do more good with a simple act of kindness rather than excessive donating. Robert Thompson's team was connected to the family in a more personal way because they themselves bought the gift and presented it. Americans reading Singer's essay on the other hand may consider themselves good Samaritans just because they type in their credit card number once a month on a random poverty site. This helps but in a less personal way. It takes less effort to give some money to a website than it is to actually pick out a gift and deliver it to a chosen family/person. This impersonal way of giving money for others reminded me of the book Woman Warrior. (yeah idk how i still remember that) Well, i forget who but one lady's husband lived in America as a rich doctor, while she lived in China collecting a monthly envelope full of money from him. He didn't bother to tell her that he had gotten remarried and that he tried as hard as he could to distance himself from his Chinese heritage. He thought that he was doing a good thing by just sending money to her, but what she really needed was to talk to him. Simply sending money isn't always the most thoughtful way of aiding poverty. If i had the choice, i'd chose a less expensive and more personal way of giving.