Zoltan Istvan: Why Are We Not Investing in Anti-Aging?

We have a healthcare system that does not believe that the normal human lifespan can or should be extended.

On December 20th, 2017, Zoltan Istvan, an American transhumanist activist, candidate for California governor, and 2016 presidential candidate, joined Merion West’s Erich Prince to discuss his current Libertarian gubernatorial bid, his presidential ambitions, and why the federal government is not in the business of supporting anti-aging.

Thank you for joining us again, Mr. Istvan. Would you like to begin by providing an update, since you were last with us in August, regarding your campaign for governor of California as a Libertarian?

Absolutely. The campaign continues to grow, and we continue to try to penetrate a voter market in California that is not the most friendly to Libertarians. I see it growing. I’m trying to grow the Libertarian voter base through pushing science and technology, and the transhumanist aspect of my political campaign. I’ve had some crazy opportunities. I’ve spoken at the World Economic Forum, the Global Futures meeting in Dubai, and I’ve had a couple other events that I’ve gone to. Every week we have something going on. I’m quite pleased.

As I recall from our last interview, your promotion of universal basic income was an important part of your campaign. We recently had an article that was rather critical of universal basic income. The fiscal critiques of the policy are well known, but I’d prefer you to respond to one of the philosophical criticisms of universal basic income. Edward Ferrara, the author of the Merion West op-ed, wrote: “It seems to me that collecting money from the government doesn’t make people especially happy or fulfilled.”