Ethics And The 'Drowning Child'

WHO Sex Scandal; MacArthur 'Genius' Virologist [View this email online]( [NPR]( Goats and Soda editor's note Viraj Nayar for NPR I'd never heard of the "drowning child" scenario until I edited a story about the bioethicist Peter Singer this week. He has [just won the $1 million Berggruen prize]( for his groundbreaking work on altruism. The scenario, which is well-known in charity circles, goes like this: Say you pass a shallow pond and see a child drowning. Would you try to save the child? The answer would be: Of course! Maybe you'd get wet and muddy, and you'd have to change your clothes. But those are minor costs when a life is at stake. Singer's point is that we are all exposed to many "drowning child" scenarios -- when we hear of people around the world facing a difficult situation. He argues that if it doesn't cost too much for you to "prevent something very bad from happening" — no matter where it is taking place in the world — you are obligated to do it. "It makes no moral difference whether the person I can help is a neighbor's child ten yards from me or a Bengali whose name I shall never know, ten thousand miles away," he has written. [Read the interview with Peter Singer here.]( That interview with Singer made me think of another story we published this week: [on people pushed into food insecurity by the pandemic.]( They are not quite drowning children but they are having a difficult time putting food on the table and often skip meals. Yet some of them said if they see someone else in need, they'll share what little they have -- like Salman Khan Rashid, pictured above, who lost his job as a golf coach at a Mumbai sports club during the pandemic. Some nights he only can afford one egg for dinner, yet he gives food and money to beggars on the streets. "I believe in giving to people who have nothing and are destitute," he says. That's a lot to think about. And one thing that impressed me is the way readers responded to our story about people facing food insecurity. Dozens of requests came in to help those we'd profiled, including Rashid. While we're not able to connect you directly with individuals, our sources all agree that local food banks are a valuable resource in need of support. [Read the story about the generosity of those in need here.]( Marc Silver Editor, Goats and Soda --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- in the news Fabrice Coffrini /AFP via Getty Images [World Health Organization Says Its Staff Perpetrated 'Harrowing' Sexual Abuse In Congo]( It was during the Ebola crisis and was first reported by The New Humanitarian. Now WHO has issued its own report, citing 83 allegations, including 9 allegations of rape. And WHO is drawing criticism in some quarters for investigating itself. [Trevor Bedford: Two Astounding Awards For Virologist Who Raised Early COVID Alarms]( He's had quite a September. Bedford has just been named a MacArthur Fellow -- the so-called "genius" grant -- and was also awarded a $9 million, 7-year grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for his work on the pandemic. [African Researchers Say They Face Bias In The World Of Science. Here's One Solution]( The new journal Scientific African was launched to provide a prejudice-free platform for research from African scientists. And it's already winning awards. long-lost music... Allegra Alcoff [Listen To A Clip From The Lost-And-Now-Found Album By Zambia's President: 'We Shall Fight HIV/AIDS']( Kenneth Kaunda spoke out about HIV when African leaders would not even acknowledge its existence. He sang about it, too, in a 2005 album that made a splash, then vanished. And so a search began. links we like - NPR shares [intimate portraits of Haitian migrants living in a border camp in Mexico]( who are in search for a new life. - This Reuters video shows how [the circular, drought-resistant gardens]( of Senegal work. - Rest of World shares their recommendations for [international streaming shows]( (including a Filipino anime, a Senegalese supernatural drama and a lesbian love story that had been banned in Kenya -- and was the first Kenyan film shown at Cannes). - NPR science reporter Will Stone shares details of [his "mild" case of breakthrough COVID.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. What do you think of today's email? 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