The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer

“There is something deeply askew with our widely accepted views about what it is to live a good life.”

Peter Singer wrote these words in a groundbreaking book called The Life You Can Save.

Singer’s book is contentious, and it’s easy to become defensive. He begins by laying out four basic arguments:

1. Death and suffering due to lack of medical care, shelter and food are bad.

2. If you can do something to alleviate suffering without sacrificing your own life, it’s wrong not to do so.

3. You can prevent death and suffering from lack of medical care, shelter, and food by donating to aid agencies.

4. If you don’t donate to aid agencies, then you’re doing something wrong.

Giving 5 Percent

The Life You Can Save is embedded in the philosophy of the Effective Altruism (EA) community. A modest amount of money can reap significant returns in the world’s most impoverished communities.

Singer proposed that we donate 5 percent of our income to aid organizations working to eradicate poverty and hunger. An EA charity such as GiveDirectly, which I wrote about in an earlier article, merges the donations it receives and gives cash grants to poor individuals and families. Peer-reviewed research proves that these cash grants result in long-lasting economic empowerment. The benefits extend not only to the recipient, but the entire community gains financial security.

“Human beings have an intuitive belief that we should help others in need…but we need to go beyond these intuitions.”

Are We Indifferent?

In The Life You Can Save, Singer identifies the primary reasons people can become indifferent to the suffering of billions of people.

No identifiable victim. Think about how you react when you receive a solicitation to help someone in need. You hear or read about their story. They explain how your donation will change their life. It touches your heart. You’re moved to give. But the fact that billions of people live on less than $1.90 per day is impossible to conceive. The number is too large; we can’t imagine their misery.

Parochialism. Singer doesn’t dispute that our first responsibility is to our family, neighbors, and those in our community. But he says a small donation to a third world community, where the cost of living is low, will save a person from death.

Futility. The state of poverty, disease, conflict, and homelessness in the world appears to be impossible to address. Singer suggests that we stay focused on our combined efforts. We’re not doing it alone.

Our Role as Corporate Executives

Companies and organizations have a major role in effective altruism. We can promote charitable giving among our employees, such as offering the option to donate 1% of their salary to a cause they support. We should include the principles of effective altruism in our corporate giving policy. And of course, we can lead by example, publicizing our corporate giving as much as we do our corporate earnings.

About the Author

Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University. He began his book as a series of lectures given at Oxford University. Singer founded an organization named after his book. It advocates for greater involvement in charity efforts to improve the lives of people living in extreme poverty.