RE: World faces challenge as life expectancies lengthen, scientist says

In the 21st century, state-of-the-art anti-aging technologies may extend human lifespans at an unprecedented rate, bringing with them a host of social and economic challenges, says biologist Shripad Tuljapurkar of Stanford University. He will present his findings on Feb. 17 at the annual AAAS meeting in St. Louis.

[Via EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health]
This article on EurekAlert concerns a paper written by Shripad Tuljapurkar, concerning how old age will affect the economy. My reading of the initial article leads to several concerns with the assumptions. The first concern is that it is assumed that 20 years will be added to healthy life, bringing our life expectancy to about 100, but there is no assumption that people will continue to work for 20 more years, instead it is assumed (with all that normally goes with that saying) that people will continue to retire at age 65, and the sit on their ass for 35 years drawing social security. I find this a ludicrous assumption for a couple of reasons. One is that if anyone under age 50 is counting on social security to provide for their retirement, then they are an idiot, and I find it hard to believe there are that many idiots in the country. The second is that someone could sit around doing nothing for that long. I know I can't see it. I can see maybe taking periods of a year or more off at a time, as by that time you wouldn't have the monetary obligations that a family bring, so you would be able to save up some cash to be able to take extended vacations, but I for one would get bored doing nothing all the time. The other problem I have is with the social security program in general, the fact that the government thinks they need to take responsibility for us as we get old. I am perfectly capable of planning and saving money for myself (which would be a bit easier if the government weren't taking 12% out of my check that I never expect to see again), and I expect to have to take responsibility for myself. That's what this country was founded on, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Liberty being the freedom and responsibility to have to take care of yourself. Too many people these days forget the responsiblity that freedom brings in addition to the choice.

I have, however, seen additional articles that Shripad Tuljapurkar is advocating raising the age of retirement to 85, which seems to be a somewhat reasonable compromise. I would however like to see people retire both when they want to and when they are financially able to do so, instead of being coddled like children.