In 2010, the rich were living 13 or 14 years longer than the poor and that disparity continues to grow. Life expectancy in a single U.S. county can vary by 20 years based upon socioeconomic variability.
George H. W. Bush popularized the notion of “Trickle-Down Economics” when he was hurling insults at Ronald Reagan, vying for the 1980 Republican nomination for President. Maybe it’s time we explored how this relates to not just the growing wealth gap but the growing longevity gap as we may be entering an era of “Trickle-Down Longevity.”
The search for the fountain of youth has fueled a longevity industry that attracted roughly $43 billion in global investment in the past decade, according to research and media company Longevity.Technology. Companies including Altos Labs and Alphabet’s Calico Life Sciences are studying potential mechanisms and treatments for aspects of aging. Some of these companies, like Fountain Life, bill themselves as a “country club for precision diagnostics,” so they’re leaning into the exclusive nature of what they’re offering. Dr. Peter Diamandis offers a 5-day, 5-Star Longevity Platinum Trip for $70,000 per person. And, of course, Brian Johnson is spending $2 million per year to become the first human specimen dedicated to trying to live forever.
Soon after the Reagan years, writer Molly Ivins wrote, “We’ve had trickle-down economics for ten years now and most of us aren’t even damp yet.” In a world in which billionaires are plotting their full velocity escape to Mars (so they can live forever there), I do worry that the longevity industry won’t democratize their innovations so that we can start closing the longevity gap that’s only widening.
-Chip
P.S. Longevity articles are everywhere these days. Here’s a recent one from the NY Times: The Key to Longevity is Boring. And, check out our Blue Zones longevity workshop in Santa Fe Oct 28-Nov 2.