I’ll be 65 early next year and eligible for a range of senior-citizen discounts. I have long believed that these discounts are a relic from previous generations, when seniors had the highest rate of poverty of any age group. But while more than 60 years of government programs have substantially reduced extreme poverty among seniors, these discounts remain.

Of course, there are still needy seniors, but I believe that any discounts should be based on income, not age. If private organizations like museums want to offer senior discounts, I have no issue. But I’m more troubled by accepting senior discounts such as half-price transit fares from government entities as we are fortunately in a position where these subsidies are unneeded. And I would much prefer any benefits I’m eligible for to go to those more in need.

Now, I have no reason to believe that any discounts I decline will be redirected to the needy, but I am still troubled by accepting them. Am I a hypocrite for accepting subsidies that I’ve long opposed? Or do I accept the subsidies, as they are currently government policy, regardless of my personal views? — Alan, New York

From the Ethicist:

We provide free primary and secondary education but only to the young. Adults who want to learn algebra, English or foreign languages aren’t entitled to free schooling, however much they could use it. This age-based restriction helps show why senior discounts aren’t inherently unjust. Both are benefits tied to where we are in life, not to our financial need. Some children receiving free education come from wealthy families, just as some seniors receiving discounts have ample savings. Yet we don’t consider free K-to-12 schooling unfair because rich kids can access it, so why treat senior discounts differently?

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To assess fairness, we should look at how resources are distributed over the long haul. Child discounts and senior discounts are available to us all,66jogo casino just not at every segment of our existence. This cradle-to-grave perspective, to be sure, doesn’t capture everything that matters for intergenerational justice, in ways my colleague Juliana Bidadanure has explored. Old and young should be able to relate as equals. Ageism doesn’t become OK if all old people are subjected to it. We probably should worry too that our Senate looks like a gerontocracy. But a scattering of special rates hardly threatens to create such rifts.

What’s more, these discounts often serve practical purposes we all gain from. Transit systems like the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North offer senior discounts with certain restrictions on when they can be used, helping spread out crowds by encouraging retired people to travel when commuters aren’t. Some movie theaters use senior discounts to fill otherwise empty matinee or midweek seats. These practices not only help businesses but also assist seniors living on fixed incomes — people who may not be poor but whose resources may not easily stretch to accommodate rising prices. Such arrangements can even encourage retirement, potentially opening up opportunities for younger workers.

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Neil Gostling, a paleobiologist at the University of Southampton in England, listens to these aspersions and laughs. “Eighty-three years later, the idea persists that dodos were slow, fat, useless balls of feathers that blundered into their own demise,” he said. “The fact is that the birds were fast, agile and, before being wiped out, had been doing their thing and doing it incredibly well for about 12 million years.”

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