The Life You Can Save
Ratings13
Average rating4.4
15
Ratings13
Average rating4.4
This is the right time to ask yourself: "What should I be doing to help?"For the first time in history, it is now within our reach to eradicate world poverty and the suffering it brings. Yet around the world, a billion people struggle to live each day on less than many of us pay for bottled water. And though the number of deaths attributable to poverty worldwide has fallen dramatically in the past half-century, nearly ten million children still die unnecessarily each year. The people of the developed world face a profound choice: If we are not to turn our backs on a fifth of the world's population, we must become part of the solution. In The Life You Can Save, philosopher Peter Singer, named one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time magazine, uses ethical arguments, provocative thought experiments, illuminating examples, and case studies of charitable giving to show that our current response to world poverty is not only insufficient but ethically indefensible.Singer contends that we need to change our views of what is involved in living an ethical life. To help us play our part in bringing about that change, he offers a seven-point plan that mixes personal philanthropy (figuring how much to give and how best to give it), local activism (spreading the word in your community), and political awareness (contacting your representatives to ensure that your nation's foreign aid is really directed to the world's poorest people). In The Life You Can Save, Singer makes the irrefutable argument that giving will make a huge difference in the lives of others, without diminishing the quality of our own. This book is an urgent call to action and a hopeful primer on the power of compassion, when mixed with rigorous investigation and careful reasoning, to lift others out of despair.From the Hardcover edition.
Reviews with the most likes.
In The Life You Can Save, Peter Singer puts forth a highly convincing argument based on the maxim “a human life is of equal value to each and every other human life.” Because we live in a globalized economy and a world in which extreme wealth inequality is widely apparent, he argues, individuals who reside in countries with a relatively high standards of living are thus morally obligated to donate a significant portion of their income to quite literally save the lives of those in need.
Although the arguments presented in the first couple chapters and the last chapter of this book are well-crafted, though-provoking, and at times, inspiring, I found the content covered in the middle chapters to be somewhat disjointed and lacking sufficiently thorough analysis. Although Singer seems to have the best of intentions, his commentary does come off as slightly self-righteous, which may be off putting for some. That said, the last chapter of the book wonderfully encapsulates Singer's overall message – to give more to those in need than you did yesterday.
