The criticism is a justifiable one. When we say that a measure will benefit 'old people' in
general, we know that some of them will be dead before any improvement takes place.
This would not be any reason for not undertaking the programme, because it will still help
the representative person. However, there is also the risk that concentration on the
'average' member of society might lead to sacrifices on the part of specific individuals or
minority interests who are unrepresentative.