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A review by smart_as_paint
Ethics in the Real World: 86 Brief Essays on Things that Matter by Peter Singer
3.0
I really like what Singer has to say about ethics as a whole-- especially ethics as they relate to animals. We should judge the morality of an action based on the morality of its consequence. Yet, he still buys wholeheartedly into the benevolence of free-market-ish capitalism.
Clearly, unchecked cooperate power is an issue, and Singer writes extensively about moral atrocities committed in the name of profit. Yet he never makes the leap that these are in any way related. Instead, focusing on an individual's infinitesimal role in resisting market trends. All the pieces to be revolutionary are there, but his ethics are chilled by an anti-collectivist Cold War undercurrent. His nature is to question the morality of everything except the capitalist propaganda of his youth.
My frustration is best summed up by a single paragraph from one of the last essays:
"Martin Luther King dreamed of an America that would one day deliver on its promise of equality for all of its citizens, black as well as white. Today, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has a dream, too: he wants to provide Internet access to the world’s five billion people who do not now have it."
That's a noble aim, Mr. Singer. But the system remains the same. Next time, how about you actually listen to MLK and start dreaming outside the box.
Clearly, unchecked cooperate power is an issue, and Singer writes extensively about moral atrocities committed in the name of profit. Yet he never makes the leap that these are in any way related. Instead, focusing on an individual's infinitesimal role in resisting market trends. All the pieces to be revolutionary are there, but his ethics are chilled by an anti-collectivist Cold War undercurrent. His nature is to question the morality of everything except the capitalist propaganda of his youth.
My frustration is best summed up by a single paragraph from one of the last essays:
"Martin Luther King dreamed of an America that would one day deliver on its promise of equality for all of its citizens, black as well as white. Today, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has a dream, too: he wants to provide Internet access to the world’s five billion people who do not now have it."
That's a noble aim, Mr. Singer. But the system remains the same. Next time, how about you actually listen to MLK and start dreaming outside the box.