[extropy-chat] Sustainability philosopy as a justification forexistence

[John]

>But the best argument for defending their
> present use of resources is to attribute their effort and industry
> during their working years to a promise that they'd be looked
> out for later.

A possible counter to that may be the argument;

"If we assume they were also paid fairly at the time for their effort, they 
have already been allotted a fair amount of 'play time' which, if they are 
now in need of our support, they have already squandered."

This is a thought the always comes back to me when I hear of prison 
sentences being reduced for the elderly on the grounds that they have less 
lifespan remaining. So therefore I, as a young person, am better suited to 
having my lifespan wasted during the years where I might be able to provide 
input to society and enjoy my life? Not only do I therefore get an unfair 
amount of extra time, I also get it positioned at a point in my life where 
it will do, arguably, the maximum amount of damage.

It also reoccurs when I hear old people lecturing on the young. The young 
who are now paying tax to keep one person a in four bedroom house, to 
respect their dignity, whilst simultaneously not being able to afford a 
house for themselves and their kids (if they can afford them).

I just generally don't like the attitude of a lot of old people. The 
attitude that lets them say things like "Young people can't do practical 
mathematics" whilst I'm sitting right beside them and then I watch them 
struggling to divide a number by 5 for a few minutes, in a group. As so many 
old people know, young people are stupid and tests are easy. This is why we 
can design things like Gravity Probe B to measure the distortion of time 
space - easy.

John