By Anjali Nayak
In 2013, Google announced that it would venture into territory far removed from an Internet search. Through a new company, Calico, it will be “tackling” the “challenge” of aging. For some scientists, recent anti – aging research – on gene therapy, body-part replacement by regeneration and nanotechnology for repairing aging cells — has breathed new life into this dream. Optimists hope to one day raise the average life expectancy past one hundred years.
The dream of beating death is an old one. Shakespeare had King Lear lament the tortures of aging, while the myth of Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth in Florida and the eternal life of the Struldburgs in “Gulliver’s Travels” both fed the notion of finally overcoming old age. Many companies have tried and failed. But, even if anti-aging research could give us radically longer lives someday, should we even be seeking them?
The better question to ask would be — Who is benefiting from such innovation and discovery? While the majority of Americans rely on the country’s fractured health care system, the rich prevail. Only the extremely wealthy can fathom the concept of living forever, and the fact that America can even entertain such an ideal that will only satisfy the 1% is an example of capitalism’s ability to stunt the medicinal community.
Through capitalism, multinational corporations can profit off of the pandemic, sicknesses, and tragedies. However, instead of fighting for the majority of people, something that companies have the power to do, the minds behind such organizations follow the possibilities and opportunities of accumulating wealth. Instead of giving the bare necessities to all, such inventions are only enjoyed by the ultra-wealthy.
Making something as necessary as medicine an item of monopoly proves extremely detrimental. According to the American Journal of Public Health, “lack of health insurance is associated with as many as 44,789 deaths per year,” which translates into a 40% increased risk of death among the uninsured. Medicine is beneficial to society, and to pull it out of reach from the majority of people that need it most is a sign of a system valuing the profits of a corporation over the natural rights of the people.
Maybe capitalism does breed innovation, but only the likes of Bezos would know.