The New Rules: Extended Life Expectancy Globalization's Next Political Battleground

Human life expectancy at birth, which remained stunningly fixed for thousands of years before suddenly doubling over the course of the 20th century, now seems destined to experience a similarly bold leap across the 21st century. When it does, it will shift human thinking about population control from its present focus on the outset of life to the increasingly delayed final curtain. The problem is that the technological advances that will make extending life expectancy possible are likely to come far faster than our political systems -- including the democracies -- can handle.

The potential outcome recalls the plot of the cable TV series “Torchwood: Miracle Day”: Without warning, a full day passes without anybody dying anywhere on the planet. Then the same thing happens again . . . and again . . . and again. People continue to get sick and suffer injuries, and they keep on aging. They just don’t die. Within months, the entire world is scrambling to handle the seemingly unbearable implications of an instantaneous population boom. ...