First published Sept. 3, 2025 in my Montreal Dispatch newsletter.

So there was Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping talking about the possibility of people living to 150 years of age and even becoming immortal, according to a CNN report.

The comments were overheard in what CNN is calling “a rare hot-mic moment” as they met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday before a military parade in Tiananmen Square.

Xi reportedly said people in their 70s “are still young,” to which Putin replied: “In a few years, with the development of biotechnology, human organs can be constantly transplanted so that (people) can live younger and younger, and even become immortal.”

Xi responded by saying: “The prediction is that in this century humans may live to 150 years old.”

Putin confirmed to reporters later that he and Xi had been having the discussion, adding: “Modern means of healing, and medical means, all kinds of surgical means related to organ replacement, they allow humanity to hope that active life will continue not as it does today,” he said. “The average age in different countries is different, but nevertheless, life expectancy will increase significantly.”

Hmm. Where to begin? Let me count the ways . . .

How about Ukraine? Life expectancy in that country has fallen drastically in the past few years thanks to Putin. No amount of modern healing and organ replacement will keep people alive there for 150 years while Putin relentlessly murders them. Just sayin’ . . .

I could go on and on citing examples of ruthless leaders past, present and future who slaughter innocent people for some perverse thrill. Sure, maybe science could prolong human life to age 150 some day, but it won’t happen as long as killer regimes are around.

Next, take a look at the U.S.A., which is turning back the clock on medical science. Why, just today, Florida proudly announced it will end vaccine mandates statewide, including for schoolchildren, CNN reported. No matter that “a study published last year by the CDC estimated that routine childhood vaccinations (in the U.S.) – such as those included in school mandates – will have prevented about 508 million illnesses, 32 million hospitalizations and 1,129,000 deaths among children born between 1994 and 2003. They also were estimated to avert $540 billion in direct costs,” CNN reports.

It’s a safe bet that life expectancy is going to fall drastically in parts of the U.S. in the very near future under the current federal administration’s war on modern science, particularly the “destruction of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s credibility and scientific integrity.” The latter quote comes from California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office in a news release today about California, Washington and Oregon’s announcement that they will form a West Coast Health Alliance to begin coordinating public health guidelines separate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as reported by CNN.

Other states have banded together as well, but not with Florida.

OK, apart from the vaccine stupidity in the U.S. and the various wars and famines and other preventable human slaughter, there’s climate change — the elephant in the global room. It really should be Exhibit A on why humans will never live to the ripe old age of 150, let alone become immortal on Planet Earth. No amount of denial from U.S. lawmakers — the same ones behind the decline of medical science — will stop climate disasters from wiping out people. Young people alive today will be lucky to make 70.

But here’s a thought: who would want to live to be 150 or be immortal in human form on Earth under regimes run by the likes of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump?

And what about the promise of so many spiritual faiths, of transcendence to higher planes of existence or heavenly realms after we shed our mortal coils, as in: “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” Would any spiritual person want to give that up to serve Putin and Trump forever?

Many people — whether spiritual or not — see physical death here as deliverance from the hell of this world. Some hope for ultimate nirvana or the like, some for total oblivion free of any responsibility or suffering.

A Chinese proverb in an old book I have says this:

“In the radiance of the setting sun, men either sing and give thanks or clamor and bewail the approach of old age.”

It also points out this:

“A violent man will die a violent death. This will be the essence of the teaching.”

Putin and Xi could have been right about life expectancy increasing significantly to 150 or beyond, if not for the ignorance of today’s leaders. But it won’t. And if there is anything to karma and reincarnation, then the leaders who’ve left the world in such a mess will be back in one form or another to deal with it in what’s left of it later.

Top photo caption: Patrick Henry’s 1775 “Give me liberty, or give me death!” speech, depicted in an 1876 lithograph by Currier and Ives now housed in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (Source: Wikipedia)