> But are these life-endings [of a young person and an old person] equivalent? Perhaps, on a philosophical level, they are. On a practical level, however, the death of an 85-year-old person from a preventable cause has cost them a few years at the end of life, while a 25-year-old has, on the same calculation, lost over 60 years of life, including their most active and event-filled years.

Every time I think about the USA, I get a strong feeling that the current structure of systems are designed for the old to flourish and at a heavy cost of the young. I would be surprised if my feeling is actually wrong and everything isn't actually designed for the older population to continue flourishing the longest at the cost of the young. I'm curious what HN thinks. I personally think the value of the young should be set higher to flourish than the old and the systems of society should be designed that way.