life = $?

Premise 1: f(money accrued) < f(money needed)
Premise 2: money ≠ life

There it is. An absolute. A less than, with no chance of it being equal. Always, always less than, unequal to, never.

Peter Singer always asks what a life is worth. He also ponders what is the human responsibility - to what do we owe to the world? Jia Hu on the other hand always questions as to what we are called to do on earth.

I come to this not so novel conclusion here and say:
Altruism is dying.

That being said, it's not dead. I met a lady very recently who exhibited an uncharacteristic amount of altruism that you ne'er see in today's world. Granted, she also exhibits some tendencies towards a personality disorder or two (take it with a grain of salt) but regardless of what she is, her principle struck a cord in me. Here is someone that, despite all odds, is willing to listen to her heart guide her in the direction of what is the moral right. She will save her fellow man no matter what the cost. She finds it her purpose here, and follows it to the point that she will guilt us into believing what she believes. Absolutely fascinating.

I make a confession: This man in question might actually not be a man, though, but perhaps a female. And perhaps not so much a woman but a puppy. Does this matter? Does this detract from the cost of a life - is a puppy worth less than a human? What is my personal responsibility in all this? If I feel the need to help, must I help? To what extent? When is the boundary crossed between when somepuppy in need is my responsibility or someone else's or not anyone's responsibility at all?

Here is what I know. Life tells me to move on, to wash my hands of this. It says, "You are not being selfish but logical." My heart tells me to reach out no matter what the cost be. Jia loves to quote Schindler, so let us sing charity's favorite paean: "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire."

So I wonder:

1. If you saw someone in the alley clawing around for help, would you stop?
2. If you saw a puppy in the alley clawing around for help, would you stop?
3. If this person needed a lot of your help and had nobody else to turn to, would you help?
4. If a puppy needed a lot of your help and had nobody else to turn to, would you help?
5. I am a bad person.