Any human fears death.
Any human fears the ultimate transition into the unknown, what sort of question is that?
You can bodybuild safely, you can even use steroids safely. There is no need to "throw caution to the wind". You can get a fantastic physique without completely nuking your healthy with mega doses of AAS.
Moderation and patience is the key to everything in life.
Did the 70s bodybuilders drop dead? No, it is only the crop of 90s and 00s retards who are dropping like flies due to the massive abuse of heavy androgens. Simply because unbridled drug use has replaced work ethic and common sense.
Outstanding post, but then, I can't recall you ever saying anything off-base or altogether irrational. 'Matter of fact, I'd have to declare you one of DCM's favorite Getbig posters
... no homo, of course
I would nitpick and say that, while some of the 70s guys didn't just drop dead straight away, some of the mega-abusers of that so-called "era" probably did shorten their lives with truly batshit insane AAS use. That loud-mouthed bully halfwit Steve What'shisname, the Intensity or Insanity dude, reportedly did enough pins and orals to make even some of the modern idiots do a double-take. (When someone prides himself on doing upwards of 80 sets per bodypart, complete with forced reps and all of that stupid Tom Platzish "kill me, kill me!" bit at the conclusion of many said sets, I'll be a goddamned monkey's uncle if he ever improves without taking an INSANE amount of drugs.)
On the other hand, as you said, Arnold's still around. Franco, Frank, Robby, Ed, Danny and Lou are still kicking; hell, some of them still actually look pretty good, particularly to be old farts. People could slam the Mentzers, Viator, Serge Nubret, Sergio et al. for not making it, but perhaps apart from Sergio, none of those guys used the kind of doses gh15 would blush about. Nah ... I knew Mike, and he was always quite candid about his drug use. He even tried to talk me into using them
And yeah, he loved some goodly doses of Deca, and he was very fond of Dianabol, too -- but you can ask other fellas who know/knew him and I'm sure they'd attest that he was FAR from a drug-dependent builder. (When someone can bench 350 and full squat 500 for a few reps as a fucking
fifteen-year-old, well ... that pretty much says it all about Mike.)
But to back up: I don't know what got Sergio apart from eating a bunch of shit for decades on end. Greasy burgers and fries, greasy pizza, tons of Coke ... maybe that, plus reports of his "Eeets tyme tdo garow, baybee!" alleged habit of downing handfuls of CIBA DBols like candy, lead to his early demise. Mike became a heavy smoker in no later than the early eighties (probably partly to emulate Jones and, to a lesser extent, Casey Viator), Ray had serious health problems and I've many times read that Serge smoked a good bit, too. Plus, we all know Casey got REALLY fucking fat after he retired and, as a younger man at least, he was smoking a pack a day by the time he was 15-years-old, LOL. Even if he quit in the 80's, it's small wonder he, the Mentzer Bros., Serge and even Sergio croaked when they did. (Incidental note: as much as I like Markus Ruehl as a very funny and super-cool guy, we all know he at least used to be a smoker on top of using an exorbitant amount of drugs. His lobster-red body betrays a BP that's got to be off the charts, and a hemoglobin level that's probably north of 30 (16-18 is considered "high normal," FWIW).)
To speak to the topic at hand, I know I fear death. Wasn't it Descartes who wrote, "Cogito Ergo Sum" -- I think, therefore I am? Consciousness defines our existence. If we're doomed to simply rot in the ground when we die/lose consciousness, fuck, yes, I'm afraid of that. Why do you think so many atheists, agnostics and humanists ultimately embrace religion? The concept of an afterlife is certainly something I can't prove or demonstrate but, as a pragmatist, I choose to believe because it serves my own selfish purposes; i.e., the idea that I and all of my loved ones -- among many, of course -- will transcend the mortal coil. Otherwise, I'd be hopelessly arrested by the finality of the whole thing.
