I realize that younger folks really aren't willing to risk death.
But the older I get, the more willing I am to put it all on the line. I'm going to die one way or another.
Think about this...
The average life expectancy during the Revolutionary War was less than 40.
A patriot fighting the British had already lived half his life.
Today we live longer. So perhaps someone young is sacrificing a longer span of life if they die in battle.
However, someone in their 40's or 50's today who has already produced children shouldn't fear risking their elderly years so much. Especially for the cause and guarantee of liberty and freedom for their children.
That's a misunderstanding. Many kids under 5 died back then and brought the average lifespan down. But if you made it past 5 your chance of dying dropped drastically and most people lived as long as they do today. Ben Franklin lived until I think 84.
I can't track down the source right this moment, but a podcast I listen to mentioned this factoid pretty recently. The average lifespan of Americans (assuming you made it out of childhood alive) has increased a few years for women (probably because not many die during childbirth anymore), and .6 years for men since the founding of the country.
I realize that younger folks really aren't willing to risk death.
But the older I get, the more willing I am to put it all on the line. I'm going to die one way or another.
Think about this...
The average life expectancy during the Revolutionary War was less than 40.
A patriot fighting the British had already lived half his life.
Today we live longer. So perhaps someone young is sacrificing a longer span of life if they die in battle.
However, someone in their 40's or 50's today who has already produced children shouldn't fear risking their elderly years so much. Especially for the cause and guarantee of liberty and freedom for their children.
That's a misunderstanding. Many kids under 5 died back then and brought the average lifespan down. But if you made it past 5 your chance of dying dropped drastically and most people lived as long as they do today. Ben Franklin lived until I think 84.
That's true. It probably distorts the average as you say.
It'd be interesting to isolate the average lifespan for anyone who had already survived past age 5 or so.
I can't track down the source right this moment, but a podcast I listen to mentioned this factoid pretty recently. The average lifespan of Americans (assuming you made it out of childhood alive) has increased a few years for women (probably because not many die during childbirth anymore), and .6 years for men since the founding of the country.