Most Americans today take things used in daily life for granted because they have never experienced a lack of or a want for basic necessities. Sometimes, the people in the lifeboat do not fully grasp the dilemma of those outside the lifeboat because they have never experienced the situation. The people in the lifeboat conflict between trying to be benevolent and help the people outside the lifeboat, while at the same time, being influenced by the law of nature for self-preservation. In my opinion, Garrett Hardin, author of Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor, exhibits a realistic approach to the solution of aiding the poor experiencing overpopulation, starvation, and lack of jobs. Unlike Hardin’s writing, Jonathan Swift, author…show more content… He uses mathematical calculations to calculate which men and women would be breeders based on infant mortality statistics available to him. Hardin’s idea of overpopulation was that nature attempts to achieve a balance. When one aspect such as population increases, it can have a detrimental effect on nature’s balance in areas such as food, shelter, and necessities. Some causes for overpopulation include ignorance, irresponsibility, and uncontrolled immigration. Hardin wrote, “Most educated Hawaiians, for example, are keenly aware of the limits of their environment, particularly in terms of population growth. There is only so much room on the islands, and the islanders know it” (Hardin 178). The problem exists that the original islanders realize that their land has a finite amount. If they wish to hand it down through inheritances, they must refuse to sell land, but the immigrants who like the islands want to acquire land enabling them to expand their…show more content… The government supplies assistance programs by collecting taxes on the general population. Swift’s observation on lacking jobs was that the poor people in Ireland had very little chance of improving themselves because of the poverty they endured. Agriculture was the support to their existence in Ireland. “Secondly, the poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, which by law may be made liable to distress, and help to pay their landlord’s rent, their corn and cattle being already seized and money a thing unknown” (Swift 387). When people did not have the money to pay rent to their landlords, the landlords usually received payments through taking their crops or livestock. Hardin’s observation on unemployment was that the foreign aids and food banks would benefit their survival, but may not convince them to improve themselves. “A well-run family, company, organization, or country prepares for the likelihood of accidents and emergencies. It expects them, it budgets for them, it saves for them” (Hardin 173). No matter what situation people get into, they have to learn to manage their