Let Them Die and Reduce the Surplus Population.

I saw another TV programme, this time about research into the ageing process and the development of drugs to combat it. I have two problems with this.

Firstly, I’m of the belief that this life is just one component of an ever-turning wheel: the cycle of life, death and rebirth. It really doesn’t matter very much how long it is. All that matters is to engage with it for as long as it lasts, until we get to the point where we’ve experienced enough to be able to come off the wheel and move on to another level of existence. On a more prosaic level, I’m tempted to wonder why we should be so concerned about prolonging life when we’re constantly being told that the world’s burgeoning population is getting too big to be sustainable. Ah, silly me; I’m forgetting. It’s only the rich folks in the rich west who will benefit from this breakthrough. The black and brown sludge on the other side of the world will continue to die young as usual, and the status quo will be even more firmly entrenched. Read on…

One American scientist is in the early stages of making such a breakthrough. His research isn’t complete yet. A few thousand more innocent rats and mice have to be imprisoned, tortured and killed first. And yet Smith Kline have already paid him $750m for exclusive rights. Let me spell that out: seven hundred and fifty million dollars, for something that might not even work at the end of the day.

A second American scientist was on the verge of making a product that is (more or less) proven. And then disaster struck. Another company beat him to the post and their pills are now on the market. He isn’t very happy about this, as you can imagine; he has to remain merely well off rather than hideously rich. But he does believe in the product, and he does want to live longer. So he happily pays the price to provide both himself and his father with the elixir of youth. It costs $25,000 for a year’s supply. Did I say he was merely well off?

I’m a simple sort of chap who would like to see human beings become more mature in the way they conduct the business of being human. If we have the wherewithal to push forward the boundaries of medical science, I would like to see it being used for the benefit of all humankind, not just for the wildly pecuniary interests of selfish scientists and the profiteering of pharmaceutical companies in the so-called 'developed' world. I think I must be naïve.