It's a ridiculous subject and we have more important things to keep on our plate then fairness. Life is not fair, just live and let live.
It is not fair in my opinion, because the 50 year old has already lived a life, where as the 20 year old hasn't. The 50 year old has already has done things in his or her life that the 20 year old won't be able to do. For example, when the 20 year old gets out of jail he will be 80 meaning he may never experience things such as getting married, having children, and etc. The 50 year old may have already done those things in his or her life, so it is very unfair to the 20 year old. The sentencing is also unfair due to the fact being both of them committed the crime and should have the same time served in jail.
Hint: that the last sentence might not hold up due to the fact of what he or she did and it pertains to how serve the crime was for both parties. Such as one person killed someone, while the other one didn't pull the trigger but was an accomplice or new about the killing. So it really depends on the crime or crimes the person has committed.
Every society has its own economic system. The way it does business is the most affected.
Tradition or freedom can be considered as society's values, and it guides the type of economic system that society will have.
Institutionalized Norm is your answer .-.
