MOGO Bookshelf: The Life You Can Save

The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty by Peter Singer. Random House, 2009. (224 pgs)

What if someone, a child, were drowning, right in front of you. Would you walk on by, intent on your business? Or, would you stop and help save the child? Most of us say, “Well, of course, I would stop and save the child!” Ethicist Peter Singer, in his book The Life You Can Save, asserts that we’re each faced with that situation every day, when there are millions around the world in desperate poverty who need our help. We don’t have to pull them out of a shallow pond, but we in the Western world who are affluent, when compared to many others, Singer says, can save lives by donating money to the most effective causes and organizations.

Singer’s book is a call to action and a dismantling of many of the justifications we build up about why we can’t donate more money to help others. He insists that we pay attention to what we do – and don’t – spend our money on and consider whether that latte or pair of shoes is really more important than helping end the suffering of the poorest.

His logic is succinct and sound:

1. People are suffering from lack of food, shelter, medical care, etc.; most of us would agree that that’s bad.

2. If it’s in your power to prevent this suffering, without much sacrifice yourself, it’s wrong not to do so.

3. By donating to aid organizations like those mentioned in Singer’s book, you can stop the suffering without undue sacrifice.

Certainly issues of poverty are complex. There are numerous systems that need to change, and “solving” poverty isn’t as each as writing a check. While issues of systemic change are important components of the problem, Singer’s sole focus is on why we humans who can help the poorest of the poor have a duty to do so.

Singer's book is a great tool for exploring issues such as generosity, poverty, social psychology, and behavioral economics with older students.

~ Marsha

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