Is a Longer life a Better life?

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Do you really want to live 30 years longer? Our life expectancies in Australia have increased from an average of 55.2 for males and 58.8 in the first decade of the 20th century, to 78.1 for males and 83.0 for females in 2002 to 2004. We now have the opportunity to watch our children grow up, retire from work and have 30 years after that to tend to our garden's vege patch, among other things. This week, a team of scientists in California announced that they have identified a gene that may increase our lifespan by up to 30 years. "Thirty more years? Is that a promise or a sentence?" I suggests that in today's frenzied society, few would be want to be on this planet any longer than we have to. There are also practical considerations of course. If living longer only improves our quantity, by not our quality, of life, would there be much point extending our lives? Would we even be able to afford paying for our extra years on earth with the cost of living increasing all the time? Would such a genetic manipulation only be available to those who can afford it, thus creating a great divide between the haves, who would live longer lives, and the have nots, who would live shorter lives? Would the lengthening of people's lives add more strain to the planet and its finite resources?