Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Rich Boy,” published in 1926 by Red Book magazine
The rich are vampires. In 2020, for example, workers lost $3.7 trillion while billionaires gained $3.9 trillion. Some 493 individuals became new billionaires while an additional 8 million Americans dropped below the poverty line. Indeed, the very rich are different. But it goes further than money. Much further.
The rich are vampires. In 2020, for example, workers lost $3.7 trillion while billionaires gained $3.9 trillion. Some 493 individuals became new billionaires while an additional 8 million Americans dropped below the poverty line. Indeed, the very rich are different. But it goes further than money. Much further.
In early 2019, the Los Angeles Times wrote about “enormous wealth being focused on endeavors and technological breakthroughs that promise at least a shot at longevity, if not immortality.” The article details:
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has channeled much of his fortune into keeping the Grim Reaper at bay. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page reportedly are heavy into anti-aging research, as is Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Dmitry Itskov, a Russian billionaire, has launched the 2045 Initiative, which aims to map the brain so our minds can be downloaded into robot bodies or synced with holograms.
I’ve already told you about transhumanism, in general, but this is a more specific example. A company named Nectome claims it can “back up” your mind. It aims to do this by preserving your body for as long as it takes for technology to be able to turn your brain into a computer simulation. Again, the very rich are different. But it goes further than some delusional form of “immortality.” Much further.
The very rich have been paying hefty sums for transfusions of blood “harvested” from young people. Allegedly, this will slow the aging process by rejuvenating all those affluent organs. This is allegedly possible thanks to a heinous, Dr. Frankenstein-like procedure called parabiosis — surgically connecting two organisms or parts of two organisms.
You can look up the specifics if you dare. What I’ll end with are some questions:
- How and why has aging become so stigmatized and who benefits from this perception?
- Where are the “mandates” for basic self-care instead of experimental gene therapies?
- Why can’t humans be encouraged and motivated to eat healthy, get enough sleep, do exercise each day, and practice stress management? Could it be that Big Pharma (and others) can’t make billions off such fundamentally helpful, free-from-side-effects guidance?
- If “young blood” transfusions for the wealthy become more of a thing, where will all these young blood donors be found? What’s to stop the already thriving black market of trafficking children from “harvesting” blood for parasitic, billionaire vampires seeking immortality?
- We already have things like tortured calves locked in veal crates to satisfy discerning palates. Why would anyone think the opulent class wouldn’t create young blood “harvesting” dens if they imagined it would allow them to live longer?
Coda: At a New York Times Dealbook conference in 2018, billionaire PayPal founder and parabiosis aficionado Peter Thiel stated: “I want to publicly tell you that I’m not a vampire. On the record, I am not a vampire.”
Thanks for the clarification. Sure sounds like something a non-vampire would say.
Reminder: The very rich are different from you and me.
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