cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45996578
Democratic members of Congress know they have an age problem—and it’s hurting them.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45996578
Democratic members of Congress know they have an age problem—and it’s hurting them.
At a certain age, people stop working. And at an even more advanced age, people stop driving. It obviously shows that even the sharpest of minds age. So why the hell are people allowed to work until they literally expire. We need age limits for the government. I’m sick of old people so far removed from today’s culture making rules based on Jim Crow era guidelines. Our last two presidents have been barely functional, dementia-riddled puppets AT BEST.
I just want to caution against us developing the stereotype that people’s capabilities slowly fade to zero, at which moment they die. That’s not always how it goes. People can die suddenly at any age, but the odds go up as you get older. You can die at 80 but still be productive when it happens. Your productivity can also go to zero years before you actually expire.
We have an elderly problem in US governance, but let’s not address it with a bunch of stereotypes about the elderly.
I hope I die before I get old.
I don’t mind if I live to 120, but when I get to that stage where I need other people to do more for me than I can do for myself… it’s time to quit before I get farther behind.
I was confused, because Obama wasn’t dementia riddled…then I remembered Biden existed.
Thats how forgetable his term was.
With the notable exception of Obama, every US President since 1993 has been born in the 1940s. Thats over 3 decades with presidents born at almost the same time (most in the same year).
Boomers will never let go of power
Yeah, but Clinton took office 30+ years ago. Bush took office 25+ years ago.
I get that they’re old today, but that would be like 20 years from now saying Obama is too old to be president. Which 20 years from now WOULD be true, except that his term was 2009-2017.
Biden and trump? Yeah, I fully get why they’re too old.
Yes there’s nothing particularly odd about the first couple of names in this timeline. The point is what comes after them.
And is a little over a month YOUNGER than the dementia riddled fascist currently infesting the office.
Nobody here thinks the dementia riddled fascist should have been president at any age.
And nobody thinks Clinton should be president at this age.
When old guys get that “Mouth Open, Catching Flies Resting Face,” it’s time to stop working, and start fishing.
The arguments against this are that old people pay taxes and should have their fair share of representation in government.
The problem here is that olds are going to nominate olds and the ideals of the young are being completely ignored, so the younger populations are not being fairly represented. The DNC and GOP are both putting their worst and oldest candidates forward.
All offices need an age cap of 65, and the Supreme Court justices need an age cap of 60 and have term limits of no longer than 5 years. Supreme Court justices should be nominated elected by the people to make sure they balance the needs of the people with the wants of the president.
Cap at 65 is arbitrary and extreme… I might have thought that when I was 12, but reality is: experience matters. Still, dementia matters too, but 65 is no guarantee of dementia, yet. https://old.reddit.com/r/DownWithIncumbency/
It’s as simple as this(if only to me anyways). Experience DOES matter. Let me attempt to explain where I’m coming from, no promise I’ll succeed
Forging relationships and networks with hundreds of people and organizations is incredibly valuable to getting things done. Doing something for a long time generally makes you better at something.
When that something is talking to people and convincing them of things you are trying to accomplish, being known to the levers that you need to push and pull lets you get better results.
I’m personally not opposed to much better cognitive checks before, and also beyond a certain age for all public positions that have real affect on how everyone else will have to live, but there are centenarians with full and complete faculties, not many for sure, but knowledge is power, even if the flesh is weak that knowledge is still very valuable.
If if I’m not wrong, then arbitrarily throwing away close to a century of experience just because of a number, and not competency is crazy to me. I fully admit I don’t know how to responsibly design and implement such a thing though. It could easily be abused/corrupted so that’s a problem to figure out unfortunately. But I do think it’s possible to design such check from people much better than myself. And yes I realize nothing is perfect but that’s okay because life is change and any system needs to be able to adapt to changes of modernity
That being said there are also other things we could do. One thing I’ve always thought would be good is we could revive the concept of an Council of Elders and give it some influence on the processes we employ our leadership. Something like an appeals approval thing or oversight committee with some type of usable lever they can flex when needed. I don’t really know how it would work, just thinking out loud a little here. Kind of like a jury but not too much with power. I’m from North America and First Nations here still have long way to go to before past injustices are reconciled but I think as a nation we should include more of their cultural traditions in the way we govern the country.
I think I’ll stop this stream of consciousness here since most people have probably dipped anyway and I’m running out of steam anyways
The real issue with these candidates is: we’re not electing the person, we’re electing the team they putatively command, the network you refer to - all the people they work with and trust and will continue to use into the future if re-elected. And that’s the twist, the candidate can be a total figurehead, a loose cannon moron even, but who’s behind them is what’s really important.
Reagan demonstrated this in spades: the lead actor of Bedtime for Bonzo? Really? We finally topped that absurdity with 45, but it was still an unprecedented doozie - his job was to read the script (teleprompter) deliver the lines, end of story - the machine behind him was what put “his” policies into motion.
If young people voted as much as old people vote, this problem would correct itself
Historically “retirement” was not a thing, you just moved to lighter tasks. People only really stopped working when they no longer physically and mentally could.
The thing you say about rich old fossils and cold war relics running the west, is a problem though. Their age isn’t per se the issue, them being out of touch pillars of the status quo and being generally oppressive is.
Trying to sneak in the Nazi propaganda right there at the end huh?
I’m sorry. I genuinely have no idea why it came off as Nazi propaganda. It certainly wasn’t my intention. Could you tell me what I did wrong?
He stepped down because he was not a particularly popular president, and because people are dumb enough to believe the Nazis when they say something.
Uhh, he was senile. Everything in his debate and press conferences indicated as such.
We beat Medicare… lol
Not if you watched with any kind of honesty.
He isnt a great debator, but he wasn’t senile
He dropped out of the re-election bid because he had a “senior moment” in the debate - that’s not full blown senility, but it’s enough to sway plenty of people who are deciding who gets their finger on the launch button for WWIII.
Because he wasnt 100% perfect. This is just the standard double standard. Trump spends the whole time shitting himself on stage, and Biden isnt 100% perfect and now people are crying about him.
The only way people thought Clinton was a problem is if they started thinking he was a problem because they had already started drinking the cool-aid
He stepped down because he came off badly during his debate with Trump.
He really didnt.
Nobody who saw that debate that wasn’t already guzzling down propaganda thought trump did well
Trump never did well, Biden still came off badly. It’s the old double standard - Clinton gets impeached for a blowjob, meanwhile pedo island gets a pass. Democratic candidates have to be super-human smart, educated, informed - but others just have to be “relatable.”
Biden is not a great public speaker, and not a great debator.
But yea, double standard,.