Garrett Hardin, a well-known human ecologist of America, in his essay Lifeboat Ethics: The Case against Helping the Poor, uses “lifeboat” metaphor to demonstrate his argument against “spaceship” metaphor which advocates everyone should have equal right to an equal share of resources of the earth. In his essay, the author spares no efforts in trying to persuade the readers the lifeboat theory can be applied in analyzing and solving the world’s pressing overpopulation and hungry problems. He advocates that considering the limited resources and carrying capacity, the affluent nations should not help the poor nations; otherwise they will drown with the poor. This theory not only challenges the moral responsibility, one of the basic human responsibilities, but also endangers human development if being put into practice. Against the background of globalization, the application of lifeboat theory will end up with lifeboat overturned, for it has fatal flaws.

The foundation of the lifeboat metaphor is laid on such a prerequisite that the available resources are limited, and the affluent nations in possession of these resources are in lifeboat, while the hungry nations are struggling in the sea to go aboard. From this viewpoint, we can see that the author ignores an important fact: although the resources are limited, they are attributed worldwide. The author roughly put the affluent nations in lifeboat just based on their rich food supplies, but what happens if the lifeboat is loaded with rare minerals only abundant in hungry countries? Ironically, according to the lifeboat theory that only the resources possessor are on board, it should be the hungry countries in the lifeboat, while the affluent countries are the ones struggling in the sea for a share.

Besides, imagine such a scene: if the rich nations in lifeboats ignore such a large population of hungry people struggling fiercely in the sea, how can they sail safely with so many desperate and vengeful people around them? If a storm comes, how can they survive without some necessary materials only produced in poor nations to repair their lifeboat? If an epidemic breaks out in lifeboats, how can they survive if the vaccine against this disease can only be found in poor countries?

With the globalization process and economic integration gaining momentum, each country lives in an interdependent world with overlapping interests and complementary advantages. Each country depends on other countries’ natural resources, human resources and markets for its further development. Meanwhile, the catastrophes, for instance, global warming, worldwide epidemic, terrorism and weapon of mass destruction, will urge all the countries hand in hand to safeguard human survival. Those who are blind to this trend will end up in self-destruction.

While applying the lifeboat theory to analyze and solve the overpopulation and hunger problems, the author confuses the relation among foreign aid, overpopulation and hunger. He tries to convince the readers of such a vicious circle: hunger of the poor people calls for foreign aid; foreign aid will encourage the poor nations to breed like rabbits; and overpopulation will result in new hunger, which will demand for more foreign aid. Thus, the author concludes that the most effective way to stop such a circle functioning is to cut foreign aid. Obviously, the author is skin-deep in the cause and effect of such a phenomenon. The causes for overpopulation are many. Foreign aid is just one of them, and not the dominant one. The cause that comes first should be the traditional views common in many countries like China: the more sons, the more blessings. Another one is that many poor people have wrong ideas that to have more children means to have more work forces to labor in the farms. In addition, the governments of the poor countries fail to adopt effective policies to control the birth rate. Last but not least, many poor people have no concept of contraception. Therefore, it is not hard to notice that foreign aid does not necessarily lead to overpopulation. Additionally, the counterevidence can also be found in the success of family planning program in some developing countries like China.

The key to solve the problem of overpopulation and hunger should not be withdrawing foreign aid, but combining foreign aid with local initiative. The foreign aid should not only simply donate the food, but also supply education, technology and loan. Through education, the poor people will come to know the control of birth rate will do their own good. With the acquired technology, the poor people will know how to optimize resources allocation and increase productivities. With loan, they can establish their own business, and with the money they made, they can pay off the loan. In addition, the success of Israeli agriculture in desert gives a hint about solving overpopulation and hunger. With the advanced irrigation technologies, Israeli people impress the world with its creativities to turn the desert into an oasis and breed a large number of people. Considering the deserts cover one third of the earth’s surface area, the deserts can carry more population and foster more people if they can be turned into livable oasis.

On basis of the above analysis, we can see that in no way can a country be well developed if isolated from others. What we should do is not to pull the poor people on board, but to help them to build more lifeboats. With the joint effort, all the nations will work out the solutions to overpopulation and hungry problems and enjoy co-prosperity.