The quest to cure death is a rich person’s game. And that doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon, which worries some experts in case humans ever figure out how to achieve immortality.
As science continues to push the possibilities of living longer—and living better longer—that science is often driven by funded research. And who better to provide a blank check than mega-billionaires like Jeff Bezos? Indeed, last year, the founder and former CEO of Amazon made a hefty investment in Altos Labs, a biotech startup focused on “cellular rejuvenation programming to restore cell health and resilience, with the goal of reversing disease to transform medicine.”
So, if the rich can live longer, the rich can get richer longer, compounding the already imbalanced spectrum of money, power, and control, experts argue in a new Financial Times article.
“The longer you’re around, the more your wealth compounds, and the wealthier you are, the more political influence you have,” Christopher Wareham, a bioethicist at Utrecht University, tells FT. The science of longevity will only widen existing gaps, he says.
Make no mistake, the effort to slow down aging isn’t slowing down. The Institute for Aging Research at New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine claims we’ve moved beyond hope in turning anti-aging into reality, and we now sit “at the point between having promise and realizing it.”
The Financial Times article notes that private funding far outpaces public funding in the anti-aging research. So, if all the proponents of anti-aging research outlive their dreams—a big if at this point in time, but a goal many have—the first ones to benefit from said science will undoubtedly be those funding the research, like Bezos. And if mega-billionaires have all the insights in not only adopting anti-aging science, but then licensing that science out to the masses, not only do the rich get richer, but the rich get richer for ... forever.
Of course, a democratized solution to anti-aging will help the masses, but the rich can still compound their wealth and power, a byproduct worthy of a philosophical discussion.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
