The Life You Can Save : Acting Now to End World Poverty - Book Report/Review Example

Nevertheless, the author indicates that the need to help may be hindered by certain internal factors. The individual attributes are mostly attached to the value of a property at stake, and which can be used to help out those in need, hence the “wrongful” essence of helping. Nonetheless, Singer attempts to persuade the readers that happiness is inexorably within the people who are ready to help. In this chapter, Singer presents what boils down to the decisions made by the rich, by indicating that their property comes first and the lives of the innocent second.

The author uses syllogisms to explain that Bob is almost reaching the age of retirement and has used most of the resources he has saved in his life to buy a very unique and expensive old car, a Bugatti. Although Bob’s car is yet to be insured, the Bugatti is what he counts as the greatest achievement of his life. Apparently, the lack of insurance cover for the car eliminates the question of a possible compensation should an accident take place, hence his syllogistic reasoning to avoid such incidents at any cost.

Nonetheless, in addition to the fascination that Bob enjoys from driving and servicing it, Singer uses direct, concise claims supported by reasoning to explain how Bob is optimistic that the car’s market value will be good news to him. He intends to put it up for sale and use the money to lead a comfortable life after he retires. Nonetheless, the philosopher crafts a tricky scenario to test Bob’s ability to help. One day Bob parks the car close to a railway line and strolls up the hill when he sees a train, loose and with no one inside, descending down the railway line.

Looking down the direction where the train was headed, he spots the tiny image of a young person who seems to be mesmerized by play on the railway line. But thinking of the happiness the car had brought him and its monetary value if he helped to save the child’s life, Bob chooses his car over the life of the child. Singer tacitly presents Bob’s objections to helping by implying that the decision may have been influenced by the lack of insurance cover for the property; uninsured property does not stand for compensation in case of any damages.

In a real life situation, however, Singer implies that when confronted with a tricky scenario in which the life of an innocent person or property is at stake, the life of the vulnerable can be sacrificed by the rich, and he objects to that in ethical sense. Apart from Bob’s story, this chapter exposes how much an individual can be willing to cede in order to lessen the pain of a victim whose life is not really in danger. The writer uses an emotional appeal to the motorist driving an expensive car down the road, that his failure to act timely could cost the hiker his leg.

The strategy of presenting these experiences in a scenario makes it interesting to observe how the wealthy value material wealth more than human welfare. In the mentioned example, the motorist has just spent a fortune to replace the old car seats with new bright-colored ones that can be stained with the slightest touch of dirt. The victim, on the other hand, cries out for help but has his leg soaked in blood – an inevitable stain. Nevertheless, by presenting this tricky scenario, Singer manages to pull the “heartstrings” of the rich to be more empathetic and ethical in order to lessen the pain and suffering that the helpless in the community are enduring.

Finally, Singer presents the