I’m all about tackling generational issues in the UK but to be fair to the old, there’s massive variation so we must be careful to avoid stereotyping. I had a family member live independently into their nineties whereas some people hit their mid fifties and start behaving like they’re eighty.

I think as a society we set bad expectations for life in general. I’ve been in the position of having to contemplate a very premature mortality more directly than I’d have liked to (fortunately the reaper had other plans!) and honestly our social notions of death just aren’t that great. We’re expected to shuffle off this mortal coil without really any guidance especially in the post-Christian world we inhabit and I think this leads to people making ill-considered choices about death.

Having said that though just giving up on the elderly altogether would be a hideously cruel thing to do, remember you will one day be old too and I think you’ll be less keen to get ‘altruistically’ bumped off the waiting list!