The photo above is one I took during my recent vacation to Germany. While stopping to tour a beautiful church in a picturesque small Bavarian town, we wandered into the adjacent cemetery and stumbled upon the gravestone of this local legend, who lived (in the 1700s, before modern medical care!) to the ripe old age of 117. I’ve been thinking of Herr Adner lately, because here in 21st century America, things are looking less rosy. After two centuries of unabated progress, in which the health and longevity of Americans slowly but steadily improved, Americans as a whole are getting sicker and dying younger than they were just even a few years ago. In 2019, the average life expectancy in the US was 79; now it’s down to about 76.
