Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

How Do We Talk About This?

Age is central question in the 2020 election, and we need to address it.  Trump, Biden and Sanders are all over 70.  Elizabeth Warren is 69.  Not every septuagenarian is mentally impaired, but a lot are.  Trump was never an intelligent man - cunning perhaps - but there are clear signs that he lacks even the average capacities he demonstrated as a younger man.  Biden has already demonstrated a mental inflexibility when it comes to his tactile experiences with other people.  Sanders locks in on his ideology at the expense of seeing anything on the periphery.

There are excellent candidates in the "sweet spot" of their 50s.  There are also some young candidates.  I believe that Pete Buttigieg is a very impressive person and candidate, but I think his age is a legitimate concern.  You aren't as wise at 37 as you might be.  Life has more lessons to teach you.  If Buttigieg's youth is an issue - and it should be - then Biden and Sanders' ages should be an issue, too.

Talking about it is tricky, because of accusations of "ageism."  However, we have mandatory retirement ages in certain industries, and it strikes me as being plausible that we should have one for a job that requires extraordinary mental dexterity. 

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