An article in today's WaPo about the coming wave of centenarians about to engulf the world in coming decades made me wonder if living to extreme old age is something i would want to do. It seems to me for every old person in vibrant good health as they approach 100, there is a huge cohort of men and women who take copious amounts of pills and enjoy a very straitened existence. More often than not they are in "Memory Care" settings as dementia sets in and physical well being consists of sitting and staring out a window. I believe many of these would be centenarians would trade the last 10-15 years of their present lives for a death while in full possession of all their faculties. The aging industrial complex enables more and more people to end their lives in a less than dignified manner. i know this is a topic which makes many uncomfortable, but is something we all need to grapple with at some point.
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