Once again there's a famine in an African country, and the news is focusing almost solely on how many children are suffering because of it (the younger they are the greater the hysteria). IF I was going to use age to distinguish between the value of a human life I almost certainly wouldn't emphasise the importance of a child's life over an adults for the following reasons:
1) Adults can always have more children, whereas children won't get very far if their parents die.
2) Animals are often categorised according to what age of human their intelligence matches. Pigs for instance, are as intelligent as a 6 or 7 year old child. So, any child with the intellectual capacity of a farm animal could possibly be harvested for sustenance should the need arise.
3) Apart from intellectual capacity, emotionally very young children are also not as able to process distress as a measure of self pity. Therefore, their physical distress has a more superficial emotional impact than in adults.
4) A child can hinder an adult in seeking help/treatment/food, thus endangering both lives.
I'm thinking of writing in to the BBC news department with the above points, but thought I'd give you all the chance to express your support before I do
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