Paradise Found: No Aging, No Pensions
By Jouni J. Särkijärvi
I’m now 88, but it is something completely different from what it used to be in your days. This is probably the biggest change: We don’t have to get old and die.
Already when I was born, the concept of rejuvenation was understood in theory: We knew what needs to be done at cell level. It took some time to make it happen also in practice. Now, to stay young is actually cheaper than to get old.
Accidents do still happen, but re-growing organs was perfected already in the 2050s. It’s a self-service society up to the finish line. It is up to you to shuffle off your own mortal coil.
You may have considered the population explosion of your time intolerable, so what happens when people stop both dying and losing their fertility?
The problem used to be that people squandered resources and there was not enough food. Actually, there would have been enough food if people had had money for it. Both these problems were expressions of primitive technology. The Sun provides us with more energy than we can ever think of using, and the Earth is practically a closed system. We only have to reorganize these 15-billion-year-old atoms to suit whatever we need.
We have no “pension age,” nor do we have pensions. On the other hand, there are no 9-to-5 jobs, either. You do not need human labor for what can be programmed. All our contributions have something to do with creativity. There are still scientists, artists, architects, and chefs.
Professional sports, alas, lost their appeal when the enhanced athletes conquered the field.
The politicians also welcomed longevity with open arms. You can tax it.
About the Author
Jouni J. Särkijärvi is an architect, former director general of Finland’s Ministry of the Environment, and former member of the Parliament of Finland. Email jouni.sarkijarvi@pp.inet.fi.