life extension

TRX
November 26, 2012
127:
I could see some of the more hardline religious groups going bonkers over "flouting God's will." Things could be interesting, for classical Chinese values of "interesting."

I would expect societies in general to get radically more conservative, perhaps evolving eventually into a de facto class system as the "haves" raise every possible barrier, not just to the "have-nots", but new members of their own class who want their own slices of the pie.

Being able to effectively plan on the long term would be a politician's wet dream. Scientists and writers tend to burn out well before end of life, so there might not be much change there.

For the majority of people, though... I'm cynical enough to believe they'll still be sitting in front of their home entertainment center at age 500, watching "Britain's Worst Toilets" or "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

(flash: the Parliament reality show, where the MPs get together each week to vote one of their number out of office...)

TRX
November 27, 2012
169:
@150:
The typical Marxist analysis of a ruling class that owns the means of production. It failed because that ruling class actually needed workers.
--
That, and both Marx and Lenin saw "workers" as an interchangeable mass. As the Industrial Revolution progressed the kind of pick and shovel "workers" who built the British system were much less in demand. Industry didn't need stoop labor, it needed steamfitters and toolmakers and foundrymen and engineers; a skilled class.

We're seeing that class split now, most apparent in the IT industry. You see a lot of places operate with a level of highly paid permanent staff who are basically a hands-on sublevel of management. In turn, the work is mostly done by temps, interns, or minimally-paid "contractors" who are worked until they drop and are discarded.

Some of Greg Bear's novels are set in a future where things have divided into management and temp agencies. My wife's employer hasn't hired a new employee since the 20th century; workforce lost due to attrition has all been replaced with temps.

TRX
November 27, 2012
170:
In Charlie's initial essay he said,

"someone ... has come up with the elixir vitae: a reasonably-priced drug which, taken daily, stops or reverses the aging process."

There is, of course, a flip side. Back in 1969 Norman Spinrad wrote "Bug Jack Barron", which caused a minor flap in Britain. The story's basic scenario was that a process had been developed to extend life, but it required the fatal harvesting organs from children.

Spinrad's development of that was that if something has a price, there will always be someone willing and able to meet that price. And if that price is only money, why, there's plenty of time to recoup the expense later. And from the viewpoint of an indefinite lifespan, why, the have-nots are just mayflies after all. What of their pathetic few years when you're staring eternity in the face?

It's not a nice book, and it is so heavily threaded with 1969 hippie-socialist politics it is hard to follow in spots, but it's still an fair read.

TRX
November 27, 2012
172:
@169:
> British system

Please substitute "British canal system".