In many countries around the world, life expectancy is increasing.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this situation and give your own opinion.
Write at least 250 words.
Longevity has seemingly constituted a blessing for centuries, but it has, in effect, both upsides and downsides. In this essay I will discuss them, including the idea of how life span extension sounds appealing to senior citizens and the painful truth of living a longer life. Overall, I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
On the one hand, increasing life expectancy is advantageous to a certain extent. First, it offers people opportunities to fulfill their wishes and obligations. Following retirement, the amount of pension received and spare time available can be made use of in order to make one's incomplete dreams come true, especially for those who are too occupied with workload in their earlier lifetime to travel to their favorite countries and keep a pet around their houses, for instance. Second, enjoying a longer life may induce a sensation of happiness. This is because elderly people have a tendency to show preference over observing the maturation of their offspring and grandchildren, which brings about nostalgia.
On the other hand, the plus side of longevity appears to be just an illusion in reality. It is undeniable that the older humans become, the more likely they are to suffer from critical health disorders, so for most elderly people, special medical assistance is vital. Consequently, despite having an abundance of time, they may be stuck in bed due to a lack of physical conditioning which is a stumbling block to obtaining their intentions. What is more, it is currently a tendency for the young generation to send their parents into nursery homes because they cannot ensure enough time and effort for their children, let alone the elderly. This means the poor grandparents rarely have a chance to participate in raising the grandchildren, but resort to being surrounded by other old friends for the rest of their lives.
In summary, weighing up both sides of the argument, I would say that although increasing life expectancy does have some desirable effects, including pursuing unfulfilled dreams and enjoying more happy moments with younger generations, the actual possible scenarios of diminished health conditions and tedious life in nursery homes more than justifies having it.
