Comment by Griff McCoy (griff-mccoy) on The Drowning Child · 2023-10-23T05:53:27.480Z · LW · GW

Singer also omits the "friend enemy distinction". Generally we treat all children as friends rather than enemies, but what if that child had killed your sister?

What if it's baby Hitler?

Etc.

Singer's parable is in fact drawn from the Mohists of ancient China. But another ancient Chinese proverb says something about "teaching a man to fish".

If a parent keeps losing kids to drowning, is it really your job to save them every time? Might it be that parents' / rescue teams' responsibility? What difference does it make when we diffuse responsibility to the whole society rather than have it concretely placed in certain individuals who we hold accountable ahead of time?