Health and prosperity; buzz words for romance novels, vitamin supplements and political pundits. A main dream and desire sees us living long lives without ill. And, we’re succeeding.
In 2004 a citizen of the USA had a life expectancy of 77.9 years. Each person! In 1930, their life expectancy was 59.7 years(1). But times weren’t always this way. The life expectancy for the United Kingdom in the year 1800 was a paltry 36 years. Preceding that, life had even more unsolved problems and life expectancies were less.
One immediate result of our better knowledge is that populations blossom. The effect is seen globally today.
There’s other effects, some equally germane to civilization and the future. First, consider undertaking risks. A thirty year old in the 1800s knew they were near the end of their life. Yet, very likely they’d be physically strong. Hence, gambling their life on a quest via simple sailing ship, across untold oceanic hazards to land in a far away country with hostile locals and questionable rewards was reasonable. A large proportion of the resident population of Europe did just that. Their reason was that a short remaining life meant there was all to gain and little to risk on such a venture.
Ahh, seatbelts, safety helmets, crash test dummies; where has gone our sense of adventure?
Perhaps we’re thinking more about our future as we expect to live longer. A child on a bicycle may dread wearing a helmet but they have up to 70 more years of life. A cracked skull wouldn’t make this a pleasurable time. This brings us to the other effect of increased life expectancies. People are indeed beginning to broaden their thoughts into the future. Mortgages, especially in Europe, can be based on lifetimes. Some even extend to the home owner’s progeny. Yet, for the most part, governments have to force the constituents to lay away for ‘retirement’. This being the time of their lives when they can no longer work but still their bodies function.
Retirement indeed. When a person gets to live capriciously as their needs are accommodated. But look at the difference between people at the end of life today and those of the 1800s. Now, old people rely upon powered assistance to travel, fly, get up stairs and even breath. Then, ‘old’ people were at the peak of their physical efficiency and could run, race horses and sail ships.
So today, the people with the power and the money are the aged. They’ve survived by being careful and somewhat lucky. They want to keep living so they invest in products and research that tries to keep their living conditions they same as they were at twenty. They’ve run our of dreams and plans. Living for another day is their goal. As a group, they are steering our civilization. Toward what? Another day. Ahh, where’s our sense of adventure, a plan for our civilization, steps to a destination for others to achieve?.
(1) Life Expectancy
| See the BOOK | SUBSCRIBE |