Why one prominent doctor (Dr. Ezekial Emmanuel) says, "I hope to die at 75"

[MADem]

63. BINGO. "The Rich Are Different" and they can live as long as they'd like, because they can

afford to buy those kidneys, livers, hearts and lungs to keep them going, and they can afford servants to do the things they're no longer able to do for themselves.

I have a lot of relatives in their eighties and nineties. The ones who aren't still working (most part time) for a paycheck are volunteering. I don't think they're done yet.

I take your points about "What are we gonna do about social security?" Bottom line is, if something's gotta give, they'll do what they're doing already--push it back and lower the "take" if you stick your hand in the jar "early" (aka what used to be "on time&quot .

A lot of older people "give back." This Emanuel guy should take a walk around and look at places where people need help--at the hospital volunteers who assist people visiting patients, at the soup kitchens and homeless shelters, at the people who are reading to little kids and teaching them their alphabet after school--it's not these robust, strapping youthful types--it's the elderly, often as not.

When I vote, most of the hair I see on the poll working volunteers is pink or blue, and I'm not talking about punk, I'm talking about those Old Lady Rinses. On the gents, the hair color, when not white or grey, is "bald."

I do think this ATLANTIC (so progressive, not) article is shopping a "The Rich Are Different" meme, in an indirect way. This is like reverse Marxism--not "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"....it's "Cough up or get the hell out. No work, no bread! No resting on your laurels, either!" It's the "Please, Sir, May I Have Another?" society!

I think this guy is working under the assumption that health care will NEVER get cheaper (I can remember when a PC cost three grand and couldn't process crap and a pocket calculator from Texas Instruments was a robust hundred and fifty bucks and was a bit bigger than the size of a pack of 100s cigarettes! Who would pay those prices today? Innovation brings improvements and costs can go down, but that's not seen as an option). And will we be "harvesting" organs from people forever? Already they're growing parts from DNA soup from the donors OWN bodies--why is it unreasonable to think that we won't be growing hearts and livers eventually, since we're already growing tracheas?

I think this guy is not a creative thinker already, so maybe his time is up NOW, not when he's seventy five. He's stuck in old paradigms and he can't think in a futuristic fashion--off with his head! (Metaphorically, mind you...)