Just look at the American healthcare system.

Wouldn't that be every health insurance scheme, ever? What the poor old lack in wealth, they usually make up for with political power concentrated over decades so even in cases of single payer healthcare, the young will always subsidize the old.

Sure, I'm only familiar with this one though.

Relevant movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140379/

This seems much relevant to the parent http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1334260/

A very disturbing movie and not just because of the inevitable gruesomeness of it. The complacency with which everyone in the film ultimately acts is just as horrifying as its premise.

For me, Futurama is the first thing that comes to mind.

So I'm kind of waiting for Nixon's head to be attached to a robot body now.

If you're going to do relevant movie, I'd say Freejack. How can you not love Emilio Estevez vs. Mick Jagger and Anthony Hopkins?

this classic B-movie seems more relevant than either:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052646/

Sadly we already have this in the form of illegal organ trade. (even against the will of victims)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_trade#Illegal_organ_trad...

You still end up a quadriplegic, I believe

Since the idea is to save the patient from degenerative disease, recovering non-autonomous functions might not be a requirement - he only need a healthy body for now. It's still hard, but more feasible I guess.

That's presumably one of the issues that the funding from the called-upon world's billionaires is supposed to fix, you would think.

If someone knew how to solve nerve connection/regeneration with $20 million of funding, they wouldn't be asking for funds to do a body transplant.

I guess that depends if they eventually figure out how to fully connect the nerve endings in the spine.

That would be a far more valuable and practical medical breakthrough than full head transplants, at least in the immediate future.

I think the comparable market for organs would actually be more popular. I'm sure most wealthy villains would take a functional kidney over a body they can't control.

Dictador will live forever

Oh, it won't be a black market. There will be lobbying and laws will be passed authorising the preservation, transport and sale of war casualties from "rogue states".

Are you extrapolating from something that did happen with other organ transplants, or just assuming it would happen even though it didn't happen with other organ transplants?

BTW, one big problem for a rich old guy is, it's very likely that their head is the weakest link, not the body. If the body has cancer which has metastasized, the head is not very useful. If the body has some other problem, it could probably be better solved by transplanting a single organ. And most of all, a rich guy who had all the means to care for his body is very likely to have preserved it in a nice shape but his memory is failing them, etc. etc. An old brain in a new body doesn't sound that great, really, not as a means for life extension. "Just for fun" might interest some generally healthy aging people, on the other hand; these people would be heavily stigmatized though, in all likelihood, even if they managed to get the body and were willing to take all the risks.

I think it could be very useful in rare cases is the upshot.

Let's say I'm going to live until 50 (head+body), but then get a replacement 20 year old body when I'm 40. What happens to me? Can I make it to a higher age now? Will my mind eventually just turn into mush anyway?

not apples-to-apples comparison, first thing comes to my mind is Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and how it (may) hurt environment.

When rich guys are saying something, others should listen, even though they are wrong

- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140117-trans...

- http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/trans-pacific-partnership

If that was likely to happen, I would expect to see the same with human organs that we already know how to transplant. We do not. So I find your extrapolation very unlikely.