Sherzod Khayitboev 201632786

English Composition 2
Argumentative Essay
Is longevity good?
Do you think that you will finish doing all things you have planned or achieve what you
are dreaming? Most people regret that they could accomplish such a lot until they die.
Sometimes people want to live longer to enjoy their lives more, which their ancestors could not
acquire. Is it possible to live longer nowadays? It is now widely recognized that the process of
global population ageing is proceeding at an unprecedented rate, with the proportion of people
aged 60 and over worldwide expected to double from 10% to 21%, as they increase in number
from 542 million to 1.9 billion between 2000 and 2050 (Skinner and McSharry, p.4). Why is a
life expectancy increasing? Candy Sagon quoted Laura Carstensen, Ph.D., director of Stanford
Universitys Center on Longevity as saying, Thanks to advances in science and technology, we
have added more years to our life expectancy in the past century than in all of human evolution
to this point (2013). Obviously, in the past, people did not have advanced diagnostics, medical
treatment and good nourishment that depend on development in technology, industry and
agriculture. As people have these opportunities todays, it is certain that people have longer life
expectancies than before, which is considered to be good by most people. Nevertheless, some
people consider that living longer causes people to have many difficulties and problems with
their health at their old ages and shows a negative effect on a society. These two different views
make longevity controversial, which will be discussed in this essay by giving several reasons.
The first reason why a long lifespan is advantageous is that the old can have a chance to
enjoy their lives more. Interestingly, longevity has always been considered as a kind of wealth
and fortune, because not all people can achieve it. Death has always been viewed as something
frightening and most people want to live longer. Living longer means one can stay with his or
her family longer and enjoy happy later life. It is a longer health span, a time of being in good
physical and mental condition so we can actually enjoy more older years (Rosenblatt, 2014).
Indeed, people spend most of their time on taking care of their family members and working
hard. Why should not they deserve a healthy and peaceful old age? For instance, rich people may
enjoy their lives by spending money on travelling, getting an expensive medical treatment or
purchasing luxury good, while poor people will be happy to spend more years with their
families. Laura Carstensen, who was quoted by Candy Sagon, represented an average age people
have nowadays: In the mid-1800s, most people lived to their mid-30s. By the 20th century, that
had jumped to 77, and today its 78. Four, five, maybe six generations of the same family can be
alive at the same time today (2013). So longevity helps to promote longer meaningful life.

The second reason is that as for society, longevity allows people to contribute more to
the world with their talent and wisdom. So many prominent scientists, writers and other elites
died with regret that they could not accomplish their plans, which were about development of a
community. For example, Alexander Pushkin, a talented Russian poet and writer, passed away at
the age of 37. If he could live longer, there might more works that people love and enjoy reading.
Another illustration is the early death of English poets such as Byron who died at 36, Shelley at
29 and Keats at 25 (Post, 2016). All of them were extremely gifted and great people but they
died so young. When their poems are read by people nowadays, their rich talents can still
provoke great admiration. Furthermore, old people can teach their children or grandchildren
what they know about life and the youth can absorb knowledge and experiences from the old,
which can prevent them from making detours. For instance, people in Uzbekistan, as most Asian
people do, ask old people for advice, because they consider them the wisest of all. Since people
are living longer now, scientists can discover and invent more, scholars can write more and
artists can compose more. Therefore, people living longer can make more contributions to a
society.
The third reason is that business markets can also benefit from the reality that people
live longer. Old people are also consumers who demand clothes, medicines, food and others.
According to the EU, the senior citizens market will grow by 81% from 2005 to 2030 while the
18-59-year-old market will only increase 7% (Dixon, 2016). These numbers indicate that the
old population also plays great role in the market and their impacts on sales are gradually
expanding. Moreover, the old can also show other economic benefits related to employment and
economic stability. For example, since old people need to be taken care of, more nursing homes
need to be built. This offers more jobs so that the unemployment can be reduced and social
stability can be maintained. In addition, a great deal of wealth is held by the older population.
Older Americans are 47 times richer than young (Censky, 2011). Annalyn Censky quoted Paul
Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew Research Center as saying, Younger Americans
have been left behind as the oldest generation has seen wealth surge since the mid-1980s
(2011). These facts indicate that old people can afford more to purchase things, which, in turn,
cause businesses to be enhanced. Thus, it is also beneficial to the society with people living
longer from the perspective presented above.
Opponents of longevity say that old people have to be taken care of, which may
influence negatively on an economy. For example, in less developed countries providing the old
who are living longer with pensions or other types of the governments supports causes the
government expenditures to be expanded, which, in turn, weakens the economy. The UN
assumes that rising life expectancy inevitably signals positive human development, without

considering its interaction with other indicators such as GDP per capita (Skinner and McSharry,
p.2). Besides this, according to Emmeline Skinner and Patrick McSharry, The financial
implications of ageing have been the subject of much debate in rich and poor countries, but too
often the discussion has centred around minimizing the costs of pensions rather than ensuring
quality of life in old age (p.8). However, every government has special funds and organizations
that support the old population. In some countries the share of gross domestic product devoted
to social insurance for older people is expected to more than double in upcoming years
(Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2015). Many countries created
new types of pension and insurance systems that aim to improve old peoples living standards.
For instance, China has achieved nearly universal pension coverage by complementing social
insurance with social pensions in rural areas. Other countries like Bolivia provided tax-financed
universal benefits to all older persons. Chile introduced a new programme that provided meanstested benefits to older persons who received a low pension or no benefit at all. Most Latin
American countries, with exceptions of Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua, have expanded their
pension systems or established non-contributory pensions or cash transfer programmes targeted
to older persons (Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2015).
Although longevity results in economic issues, many countries are still making policies to
support the old population.
In conclusion, there are three main reasons why longevity is believed to good for a
society: the longer people live, the more they have a chance to enjoy life; making contributions
to the community and bringing benefits for the business world. Obviously, the concept of a long
life expectancy means that people are living better than before. Nowadays, they can get modern
medical treatments with high standards of technologies, effective nourishment, good
convenience in housing and governmental supports that provide healthy and longer life.
According to Wan He, Daniel Goodkind, and Paul Kowal, Among the 7.3 billion people
worldwide in 2015, an estimated 8.5 percent, or 617.1 million, are aged 65 and older. The
number of older people is projected to increase more than 60 percent in just 15 yearsin 2030,
there will be about 1 billion older people globally, equivalent to 12.0 percent of the total
population. The share of older population will continue to grow in the following 20 yearsby
2050, there will be 1.6 billion older people worldwide, representing 16.7 percent of the total
world population of 9.4 billion (2016). As technology is gradually being modernized, peoples
lifespan will continue rising. Accordingly, in the future, all illnesses and diseases may be cured, a
new type of living standards can be created and life may become easier and more convenient.

References
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