The curse of immortality
Imagine the fabled elixir of immortality. Imagine if a pill taken once a day could halt all forms of aging. Imagine living a life with no end. The following is a fictitious scenario that looks at the possibilities.
17 August 2016
Deep in the heart of the Amazon comes the elixir of the Gods! Taken once a day this will keep your body from aging. The K3 pill as it has since been called is gaining worldwide attention and not all of it good. Some are calling it a crime against nature.
26 December 2017
The first shipment of K3 officially went on sale today. Although these were pre-sold months ago production of the drug is being rapidly ramped up. It is expected that within 18 months there will be sufficient supply to meet the worldwide demand for it.
28 November 2029
Due to the worsening food supply situation the government today announced radical new measures to restrict the growing population. From the 25th of February 2030 the new SUSTAIN act will make it illegal for anyone taking K3 to have children. Exact details of how this will be implemented and monitored have yet to be released.
4 May 2032
The recent upsurge of illegally born (ill-born) children to those on K3 has been highlighted by Congress today. Senator Karass had this to say:
"We do not want to prevent the fundamental right of people to bear children however the growing concern regarding limited food supplies must be addressed. We can no longer turn a blind eye to illegally born children at the expense of the existing population."
22 June 2035
There has been a significant rise in recent years of the number of people with STD's. The health minister was quoted as saying:
"Although we now have greatly increased life spans this does mean we are immortal. People need to understand that with long life comes greater responsibility".
12 March 2036
Exploitation of the SUSTAIN act has been revealed with Death Days up for sale. A little known part of the act allows for relatives of deceased individuals to give birth to a "replacement". A small minority of those not on K3 have sold their "Death Days" for sometimes up to 20 years in the future. These marriages of convenience are causing outrage among those on K3 wanting to have children.
3 August 2039
The freezing of eggs and sperm has seen a dramatic increase in the last few years. A Pharmi-tech spokesperson had this to say:
"With the limitations of the SUSTAIN act it makes sense to freeze your eggs for future use. Why waste your limited number of eggs today when freezing them could bring you a brighter tomorrow".
However concern has been mounting regarding the viability of frozen eggs over an extended period.
30 Nov 2045
The four day working week has now been adopted by the majority of businesses while some are even advocating reducing it to three. With a long life there is no longer the need to be in full time work once the necessities of housing and transport have been met. The savings made by not having children is also fueling this change. Economists have voiced concerns over this trend as worker shortages have become the norm in some industries.
14 July 2059
In two isolated instances individuals on K3 have been shown to exhibit some signs of aging. Government officials have been quick to call for calm. The health minister has issued the following statement:
"There is no need to panic. K3 has been shown to block the effects for aging for many years now and there is no need to assume that this has changed."
However doctors involved with the two cases have declined to comment on them.
12 March 2062
As the cases of aging among K3 users increases to over 4% the President addressed the nation.
"It appears that a small percentage of people taking K3 have developed a resistance to it. While we are at a loss to explain why, we are pouring every resource we have into finding a solution."
Rumors of the increased number of resistance cases had been talked about for some time however no-one could have guessed that it would have been over 4%. Rioting has erupted in several major cities with pharmaceutical and medical buildings targeted.
8 September 2066
The new REBIRTH project has officially announced today to examine all methods of population replacement. As the cases of aging among K3 users are now at over 60% the primarily concern is continuity of the species. The majority of 30 year old egg stocks are no longer viable and with the number of fertile (non K3) females at 1.8% of the population there is now are very real fear over how will our species will survive. Calls have been made for a mass breeding problem however this has provoked outrage from civil liberty groups. No matter what the answer it is clear this problem will fundamentally change our culture and the future of the human species.
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