I disagree. Look at your body. It's multicellular, not one living thing. Your very cells both compete and cooperate with one another for resources to survive (

I disagree. Look at your body. It's multicellular, not one living thing. Your very cells both compete and cooperate with one another for resources to survive (just as we humans do amongst ourselves). For the greater good of the organism (you), individual cells are programmed to die when they are in poor health or old age or in too much stress, to allow younger healthier cells to take their place for the greater good of the organism as a whole. When this process is averted, or goes awry, old/unhealthy cells remain and the organism suffers, as it has to support these old/unhealthy cells which don't contribute their fair share to the organism. It has to divert resources which could otherwise go to new younger healthier productive cells. Worse, is cancer, which is literally when cells rebel their original programming, and become selfishly greedy. Obviously, as we all know, these things can lead to the organism becoming dysfunctional and even dying. This reality applies to cells, and to organizations like companies, governments, and even species. So to answer: are lives worth preserving? Yes. But reality is, there can come times when the preserving the lives of the old, is directly at odds with the lives of the young, and choosing to preserve old lives over young lives, is harmful to lives as a whole.