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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
How much is your comfort worth to you? How much are even your necessities worth to you, and on reflection do you think they are necessities? Even living hand to mouth in the States is living richer than a large proportion of people, and can you really not spare a small percentage of your income to help people not just live better lives, but maybe live at all? Singer’s classical ethical treatise gets updated and posit exactly those questions. By the end of this, you may Weiner not only why you didn’t give more sooner, but potentially also view your place in global society entirely differently. Always mindful to not instill guilt or moralize, the book instead empowers you to want to do more and be more than you already are. We need more inspiring books like this, and even more people to follow its wisdom
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I appreciate how upfront this is with its agenda and I agree with many of the ethics outlined, but the need to find the most effective way to give money while constantly disregarding systemic issues was annoying. But I enjoyed the conversations I got to have with my friend while I read this.
Edit: In learning more about Singer and more of his beliefs it really reframes and casts shadows over this.
Edit: In learning more about Singer and more of his beliefs it really reframes and casts shadows over this.
Singer offers his take on effective altruism and challenges the affluent (that's you and me) to contribute significantly more to fight poverty. You're passing by a lake. You see a small child drowning and you know you're the only one capable of saving them. Are you compelled to save the child even though you'll ruin your nice suit and shoes in the process? Obviously you are. Now, replace that one drowning child with the millions of children living in third-world poverty and your suit and shoes with at least 5% of your annual income. Singer argues that once we know that the charities you can support are efficient and effective (see thelifeyoucansave.org) then our moral obligation to the third-world is no different than to the drowning child. Read the book before you starting trying to find wiggle room and holes in his analysis. I'm pretty sure he has answers for all of it.
Nothing that special about the writing or structure of the book, but I think it contains one of the most important messages about addressing poverty, hunger and disease. I liked that the anniversary edition addresses faulty claims made in the first edition.
I have mixed feeling about the book. At the beginning it was such an amazing compilation of moral questions about ending poverty, but later, it was like if you are reading a political propaganda pro-Oxfam (I adore oxfam and I'd just die for the possibility to work with them, but com'on).
Also I expected a better conclusion for such an important topic, a proposal o whatever, but it ended with an anecdotal conversation, really?; I understand that in some cases it's necessary some remembrance to a few anecdotes but it's an "essay" for a person that probably knows the most prominent personalities that work against poverty. For me it was such a disappointment (in some parts).
Also I expected a better conclusion for such an important topic, a proposal o whatever, but it ended with an anecdotal conversation, really?; I understand that in some cases it's necessary some remembrance to a few anecdotes but it's an "essay" for a person that probably knows the most prominent personalities that work against poverty. For me it was such a disappointment (in some parts).
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced