Are some lives less equal than others?

. In the story, senior writer John Kehoe says: “It is legitimate to ask if policymakers should prioritise people of all ages equally.”The context is the excruciating trade-off our governments are now trying to negotiate between the health emergency and the economic emergency. Both are grave.

“Many seniors like him would not put their own life above the livelihoods of their children and grandchildren, if the economic and social costs are too great.You might accept that a life equates to a livelihood. I don’t. You might accept that lives can be weighed against each other. I don’t. They can be weighed for relative worth, but not to pronounce life-and-death judgment on one or the other.

There are about four million Australians aged 68 or older. Even with dying with dignity enshrined in Victorian law now, it is difficult to imagine a voluntary cull of the uselessly old being fully subscribed any time soon. It rules out Elton John and Barbra Streisand and the US president, and his challenger, and his challenger’s wife, and George Pell and some of your parents and quite a few of your grandparents and at the very end of the chopping block, Rupert Murdoch.

Count on it!

I am old & taking all Standard Respiratory Infection Control Precautions 2 avoid getting sick. Totally ignoring the Gov. advice not 2 use masks. I would expect Drs 2 prioritise my grandkids over me if medical decisions had 2 B taken in the event of lack of ventilators/medication.

If we prioritise lives then a more productive way for society would be to do it by occupation which would mean all the CEO's, bankers, hedge fund financial people and politicians go to the bottom & supermarket, teachers, truckies, nurses etc at the top.

Oh well said! You have articulated what had been going through my 70+ head. I have value - to my family friends, community and the organisation I volunteer for twice a week. Thank you.

You'll like this, BarbaraBAnthony.

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Are some lives less equal than others?Comment: As coronavirus continues to plague our health and our economy, the debate about balancing them should not be reduced to a choice between old and young, writes GregBaum GregBaum No Debating Take Action Save as many as possible Practice Social Isolation Stop Hoarding and in a few weeks maybe the restrictions can be loosened in slow stages GregBaum Let’s be blunt - this isn’t just an age issue it’s a class one too. Geoffrey Rush and Elton John will be cloistered up and protected. The old and vulnerable that will die are those that are by economic necessity exposed. GregBaum Yes, some lives are less equal because the old, vulnerable, poor and underprivileged will either die from COVID19 or as a post-COVID19 economic depression casualties or as a post-economic-depression war casualties. Then there is a question of overpopulation for India & China.
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