To Save a Life
Sweet Bites for September 20, 2024
Hi all,
Welcome to another edition of Sweet Bites, Mind Candy’s bite-sized newsletter with thought-provoking finds to send you into the weekend with.
Any of the below bites resonate? Hit the reply button and let me know.
🦉 Wisdom
“To the selfish and original passions of human nature, the loss or gain of a very small interest of our own, appears to be of vastly more importance, excites a much more passionate joy or sorrow, a much more ardent desire or aversion, than the greatest concern of another with whom we have no particular connection. His interests, as long as they are surveyed from this station, can never be put into the balance with our own, can never restrain us from doing, whatever may tend to promote our own, how ruinous soever to him.”
Adam Smith
Source: The Kindness of Strangers
🍰 Mini Bite
In the 1850s, as a battle between the French and Austrians took place in the small Italian town of Solferino, Henry Dunant watched in horror as men from both sides suffered from their injuries.
With no one to help the wounded, Dunant mobilized his town of Solferino to jump into action.
Setting up a makeshift hospital, Dunant and the townspeople quickly pivoted their lives to assist the wounded soldiers.
It didn’t matter who was injured or where they came from, the townspeople of Solferino were there to help mend the wounded, hold hands with the injured, and listen to last words.
Dunant was so inspired by the work of the town and the collective effort to help all those in need that he would go on to form the International Committee of the Red Cross.
According to Michael McCullough, “Dunant and his friends in Geneva had persuaded twelve European states to form the ICRC. In 1864, those twelve founding members also signed and ratified the Geneva Conventions, which declared their commitment to providing timely medical care to wounded soldiers.”
Fast forward to today, “191 states are members of the ICRC and 196 are party to the Geneva Conventions.”
Sometimes there are things bigger than sides—bigger than party, bigger than friend and foe. Sometimes there is the understanding that we’re all humans and are reminded of our shared humanity.
It’s people like Dunant who reinforce these reminders, going far beyond the call of duty in one’s life to provide for a higher purpose, something outside the self, something outside of even his little community.
As Solferino worked on the injured, the townspeople would say to one another, “Tutti fratelli” which in Italian means “All are brothers.”
It is this commitment to human life that reminds us of our shared commitment to one another, even in the worst of times.
💡 Concept
The philosopher Peter Singer once posed a famous ethical argument in his book The Life You Can Save. Below is Singer’s situation.
As you read the passage, think about what you’d do. What are the ramifications of you actions? What if everyone applied your thought process? What does your answer reveal about yourself?
“On your way to work, you pass a small pond. Children sometimes play in the pond, which is only about knee-deep. The weather’s cool, though, and it’s early, so you are surprised to see a child splashing about in the pond.
As you get closer, you see that it is a very young child, just a toddler, who is flailing about, unable to stay upright or walk out of the pond. You look for the parents or babysitter, but there is no one else around. The child is unable to keep her head above the water for more than a few seconds at a time. If you don’t wade in and pull her out, she seems likely to drown.
Wading in is easy and safe, but you will ruin the new shoes you bought only a few days ago, and get your suit wet and muddy. By the time you hand the child over to someone responsible for her, and change your clothes, you’ll be late for work. What should you do?”
📚 This Week’s Monday Meditation
✏️ This Week’s Wednesday Wisdom
📖 Book Recommendation
Tribe by Sebastian Junger
Focusing on coming home from war, Tribe explores what it means to be a part of something greater than oneself. Junger succinctly reviews what war does to those who return home and what it means to try and reintegrate into society after experiencing something few understand.
Three Favorite Quotes/Passages:
“What would you risk dying for and for whom is perhaps the most profound question a person can ask themselves.”
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“Communities that have been devastated by natural or man-made disasters almost never lapse into chaos and disorder; if anything, they become more just, more egalitarian, and more deliberately fair to individuals.”
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“If there are phrases that characterize the life of our early ancestors, "community of sufferers" and "brotherhood of pain" surely must come close.”
Until next time,
D.A. DiGerolamo
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