Longevity as a business model: Proteins and strength training are not the meaning of life

After “old” comes “dead”. This is as inevitable as it is stressful. Of course, my own aging concerns me. Otherwise I wouldn't know what a nasolabial fold is. And yet it surprises me that aging is less and less seen as a part of life and more as a problem that needs to be solved with a lot of discipline. Because no one can be disciplined enough to stop or even reverse the aging process, quite a few are willing to throw money at this problem. Longevity and anti-aging are two sides of the same self-optimization coin.

Aging as a business model is a strong entrepreneurial idea. Because almost all of us age, and anyone who no longer ages can no longer buy anything anyway. It is as sad as it is understandable that thinking about the finiteness of life and worries about the body open our wallets. It's only superficially about health and beauty. It's about control, but it can't exist.

I despise the beauty and fitness industry, cosmetic surgeons and nutritional supplement manufacturers all the more, who fuel these fears in order to make money, and at the same time contribute to health in old age being declared an individual responsibility and life choice. The recommendation for longevity is always to get off your ass after work. Demands for shortening working hours, relief from care work, improving health care or an earlier retirement age, especially for people in physically and mentally stressful jobs, cannot be found under the keywords “anti-aging” or “longevity”.

This society is aging and at the same time is anti-age and anti-disabled. The consequences of demographic change are outsourced to the individual. It won't be long before discussions about the care crisis begin to suggest that those in need of care are themselves to blame. Anyone who can no longer look after themselves at 90 should not be rewarded with support for neglecting their strength training. Health and youthfulness are also considered status symbols. Sport is healthy, but health as sport is ableist bullshit, because turning health into a competition shames illness even more than it already does.

A healthy, long life only has meaning if it is fun. A carb-free, party-free life is just as expressionless as those Botox faces. In the end, it won't feel like you've been on this planet long if you've just spent your time prolonging your existence. Protein and strength training are not the meaning of life. Retinoids and collagen boosters are not an investment. Many people probably can't even afford to live a long life: otherwise they wouldn't be constantly talking about ETF savings plans.

My body is not a project. And I don't want to spend my limited time with boring people whose project is their body. I would only find a longer life desirable if it is a sweet life. What should I do with extra years if they were bought with no sugar?