How would you like
to live to be

300 YEARS OLD?

A CONVERSATION PIECE

By R. G. O'NEILL

ODERN medical scientists

are doing considerable re-
search into the possibility

of longer life for the human
race of the future. They believe
there is a distinct possibility of
prolonging tha life span to 300
_ years or more, and that ald age
is a disease which eventually
_ Will be cured, as will all the

‘other so-called incurable di-_

seases.

Yet as they probe this great:

prospective, hordes of pessim-
ists gird up their loins to bat-
tle, to belittle and despair, at

In the nam

A CADILLAC, of course.

J. S$. Wallace

That organized charity
Primped and iced

Statistical Christ.

should show yourself less fleetingly to your public...
So look back a few decades and watch Col. Weston

the thought of life on earth be-
ing relatively endless. The old
arguments will be re-stated: for
instance, that the world’s fut-
ure population will be so over-
crowded that half of the world
will have to breath in, while the
other half breathes out. There
will be those who advocate
forced sterilization and birth
control, who speak about the
necessity of war to keep the
population in check. It is the
age-old battle of the forces of
the status quo versus peace and
progress.

“What’s the point of a life

e of a-cold

—JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY

But there are times when you

as he strolls along Barrington St. bowing regally and flour-
ishing his silk hat to an occasional customer, if she was of
the right sex and susceptible. A man who believed ‘in the
survival of the fattest, looking as if the whole world was
his oyster. In fact his four dozen oysters.

And flaunting on his lapel a hammer and a sickle..

We had managed to win a tag day from city hall and
that was the emblem we selected. I ought to be ashamed
of the leftism we showed in making such a choice for
that time and place. Instead all I can think of is the sight
of the General Manager of the Eastern Trust Company as
he unwittingly displayed it. He didn’t find out: I know,

because there was no report that day that he had died
of a stroke.

What do you do when you are asked to face a tagger
(or similar collector) ?

There are some causes that. are supportable. There
are others on which you should take a stand. ’'m expressing
a personal opinion: check me if you disagree:

A girl asks you to buy a tag to help crippled children.
I think you should answer, in a nice way, that you think
they should be a government responsibility and not left
to the uncertainties of charity. If there is a chance, you
might add that is the way it is done in countries like
England and, of course, in all socialist lands where health

treatment is not only free but adults are paid while sick
as well.

All this in a nice way, in a way which shows you
appreciate the tagger is taxing herself in the work she is
doing . . . You might even want to add: “It’s against my

principles, but you’ve been so pleasant about it, this one
time I'll take a tag.”

And put it in your pocket. So that you'll be ready for
the next tagger that flags you down.

I think this attitude is of some importance because most
taggers are people of good will, well worth winning over:
if you have the time and are willing to develop the tact,

until that age? Its bad enough
short as it is now.” say the
cynics and doubters.

For the religious and God-
fearing the whole crux of their
faith is the lure of endless life
after death in a place. called
Heaven, where all is supposedly
glory, beauty and _ hosannas.
But offer them a real Heaven
right here on earth and they
cry out: “Ah! but that’s inter-
fering with nature!” Yet if na-
ture were the only way chosen
by God then we would only live
to an average age of 22, as the
Romans did. :

“What would we do with all
that time?’ some ask. “We
would be bored to death!”

Isn’t it amazing how, at the
very mention of the word “long-
evity” these questions pop up?

How we would use our time
with a longer life span depends
on our attitude to life. Nor-
mally we feel that life is rosy,
has everything to offer; as we
grow older, life loses some of
its glitter. Yet if, say, at the
age of 225 years we felt and
looked as we did at 25, the
question would be meaningless.

Life is always rosy for the
young in heart and body. We
know life is filled with interest
which stirs our’ insatiable cur-
iosity, and the desire to live is
always paramount, waning only
as we ourselves grow old, as
our cells degenerate and age
begins to show.

As each argument against a
longer life span is countered,
another takes its place, promp-
ted by superstition, prejudice,
hatred and dogma, all helping
to make up the armory of ques:
tions that hold back progress.

Time itself will answer these
questions and lead the way to
exploration of the sciences,
space and man himself — man
who can do the impossible; who
possesses the capability to de-
Stroy all life, or make life for
the future generations an end-
less panorama of breathtaking
wonder.

The advances made in science
Over the past 20 years have

Toy exchange
in Copenhagen

A toy library in Copenhagen
lends modern toys just as other
libraries lend books. A library
card entitles the members —
boys and girls from 4 to 12
years — to take a toy home for
a week. If they bring it back in
good condition they get a plus
point. For 20 plus points they
are given a toy to keep.

But whoever damages or loses
a toy gets a minus point and
is not allowed to borrow an-
other toy for a week.

completely eclipsed that of the
past 2,000 years. With the ad-
vent of space travel the. hor-
izons of man’s ambitions will
become even more grandiose.
The time, in earth years, it will
take to travel to Venus, for in-
stance, will present the prob-
lem of the aging Of the partici-
pants of that journey. Here
alone is one of the advantages
of a longer life span.

As each new truth is disco-
vered, so this truth will lead to
more inquiry, more debate; for
no one aspect is final and abso-

lute in itself, except man’s in-

creasing desire for further
knowledge. Our present little
worries will become minute and
inconsequential, when life goes
on for centuries, and each per-
son can become a Leonardo de
Vinci, particularly if we consi-
der that 10 years spent in the
study of a single aspect of life
will still leave so much time
for further seeking of the truth,
without the fearful question:
“Will there be enough time?”

Think of how often you have
wished you had the time to be-
come in turn, say, a train driv-
er, a steeple jack, a draughts-
man, a radio technician, a jour-
nalist, a chemist. How about

Cava

‘ ”

; 5 : here! f

“We don’t want any of those British-style elections Over, wort
E

November 6, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBU

How many careers in one lifetime?

Pp akpbesenecs
Lei Ke SUE Te}
PP eee h as

“trate

the ambition to go to univel .
sity, to learn to paint, t0 7
come a musician, to take 1?
your leisure all the beauty
now do not have time to se€
cause of the inadequacy 9
70-year life span? Think of ™
endless realm of unrealiZt
dreams, all feasible, all achlé
able with time to spare!

This is the future that ©
trasts the philosophy of
Hitlers, the Goldwaters,
warmongers, those peddlers
doom and tragedy.

Man’s future is in his Bin 7
hands; so is the total dese
tion of all his kind. That chee
is for those humans who a
alive now. Ours is a time ‘coe
history when the whole ee
rests in our palms — by 0
apathy we end all we nee :
life for ourselves and fut eee
human race; by our active He :
ticipation to defeat the nue ats
madmen, and turn those pow?”
of destruction to power rt
peaceful uses, to end pove's
and war, we can guarante?
bright, wonderful future
ourselves and our descent Anis
Then we can proudly Say
tory begins; for nothing is it
knowable, only at this time
is unknown. ae

on
the

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CCLES (British DAP”

Ne—Poge ©