Analysis Of Garrett Hardin's Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping The Poor

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In his essay “Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor” (1974), Garrett Hardin claims that because of overpopulation we should be concerned about our natural resources for posterity. Hardin supports his claim by first using a Lifeboat metaphor where the boat represents a rich country, the United States, and the people at sea wanting to get into the lifeboat represents the impoverished nations. Hardin then shows data on the population of the United States and the annual percentage of population increase and compares it with other countries around the world, Hardin states, “Every human born constitutes a draft on all aspects of our environment.” Lastly, in order to get his points across Hardin directs his audience not to share