Look At It This Way

Humankind today lives longer than ever before. A lot longer. Many today can expect to live into their late 70s, some much longer than that. Still it's not long enough.

What if we could reasonably expect to live for 200 years? How would that change us, especially how we see our world?

Our outlook would be entirely different. Had I a reasonable expectation of living another 130 or 140 years, I'd be scared shitless about climate change. I, we, would be taking to the streets with pitchforks and torches, chasing down the fossil fuelers and their political collaborators for condemning us to endure a dystopian future.

Most of us, however, comfort ourselves in the knowledge that we'll be safely dead before the fit hits the shan, although the latest research suggests we might be a bit too optimistic about that. And so we're content to let the good times roll even if our ongoing excess ensures that those future generations pay for our indulgence.

And that's the kind of people we are which is the only reason we elect the leaders we have.