The Life You Can Save Jefry Ang, Garret Dettner, Trae Givens,
Connor McGuire, Kristopher Overbo, Thomas Slayday
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Overview of Singers Argument Each of us, individually are
responsible for taking definite action to prevent suffering in the
world, irrespective of what others are doing. Detailed account of
the ethical argument The psychology that undermines the ethical
imperatives Practical considerations of the effectiveness of giving
A specific prescription for effecting change
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1. Saving a Child Practical ethics ~ situation about a drowning
child / relation to poverty. Roughly 30,000 kids die each day due
to situations like this. Comparing to your situation ~ donate? What
is true poverty? No food, no shelter, no safe water = extreme
poverty. 25 yrs reduction of 18% of poverty towards southeast Asia,
still have long way to go.
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2. Is It Wrong Not to Help Situation about new car and hiker -
intuitive belief help others in need. / Golden rule Why not donate
to agencies? = helping children/saves lives. Easy to donate money,
but donating time is more meaningful. Relate to personal
experience. $306 billion donated 2.2% including 30% of volunteer
work = 50 hrs. yr. However >1% donated to developed countries.
Seven cents of every dollar donated. We can do better!
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3. Common Objections to Giving 1.I worked hard for my money, I
should be able to spend as I please. 2.We are responsible for evils
we inflict on others, but we owe nothing to those we have done no
wrong. 3.America is a generous nation, we already give more than
our share of foreign aid through our taxes 4.Giving money for food
breeds dependency 5.I have my own family and expenses I need to
provide for 6.There is no black and white universal code for
everyone. It is better to accept that everyone has a different view
on the issue, and all people are entitled to their own beliefs
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4. Why Dont We Give More? The Identifiable Victim Effect -we
will spend far more to rescue an identifiable victim than we will
to save a statistical life. Parochialism -a limited or narrow
outlook, especially focused on a local area. The Diffusion of
Responsibility -we are much less likely to help someone if the
responsibility is solely on us
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5. Creating a Culture of Giving 50% League: Half of wealth or
half of 3 Years income More likely to donate if we believe others
are as well Motives dont matter as much as the donation does,
donations should be public to encourage others Putting a face on
the needy allows for satisfaction because donations are working and
they keep money flowing because they rely on you The right kind of
nudge, opting in versus opting out Minimum contributions and
matching Challenging self-interest
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6. How Much Does it Cost? Difficult to see the benefits from
donations Finding charities that really make a difference
Administrative expenses can be up to 80% of revenue Charities that
report low administrative expenses may be removing expert
knowledge, and fund projects that fail No evaluations of
effectiveness What it really costs to save a life, potentially
$200-$3500 Overcoming poverty: path to independence Other good
things done cheaply, arsenic filters, stoves, toilets and sewer
systems
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7. Improving Aid Spending too much time and money to eliminate
trade barriers, rather than donating to agencies that give aid to
the poor Saving lives, reducing misery, and meeting peoples basic
needs Bill Gates Millenium Villages Project Growing world
population
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8.Your Child and the Children of Others Taking your child to
inexpensive school and donate substantial sums toward saving the
lives of strangers Harder to love the children of strangers than
your own
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9. Is Doing Our Fair Share Enough? A Different Variation of the
Pond Scenario
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10. How Much Should We Give? People who have the money should
give 5% of their income. The rich should give even more. The more
money you make the more money you should give. 7 steps to ending
world poverty.
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Our assessment of need remains skewed... Lots of attention for
Haiti after the earthquake (2010) and a well-covered outpouring of
support for the victims. meanwhile, improvements in global child
welfare have resulted in 3,000 more lives saved per day! Bottom
line: Do not rely on the media or any other external source to
point out need or highlight success. Look to your own consumption
compared to the needs of the worst off.