Oldies but goodies?
Hillary, Jeb, and Mitt. Old duffers in the Senate and House. Most of the SC judges. Naughty or nice, they’re old. But are they effective? Do they have enough stamina to continue a political life? And, most importantly, why aren’t younger people stepping forward? Even Barbara Bush wondered about that, specifically why someone else besides the Clintons and Bushes couldn’t run for president. My ponderings are more general: is politics so tainted that people can’t even imagine running for office? Maybe people just don’t want to subject themselves to the electoral process, which has become beleaguered by political infighting and mudslinging. Another way to put it: you have to be a mentally challenged masochist addicted on power to yearn for public office these days.
I’ve been elected a few times—“volunteered” is the better word—to club positions, committee chairs, even a department head, and I always had more regrets than rewards. Any leadership position requires a tough skin; it’s usually a thankless task where you often feel like the target in a pub game of darts, the latter the barbs directed at you as you attempt to do your job. I can imagine those bad experiences magnified thousands of times, even for local and state government positions, let alone national ones. It’s become so bad that only “experienced people” (read: old has-beens) can stomach it. And we pay the price for that in our Western democracies.
It’s possible that Hillary, Jeb, and Mitt have good intentions. But they aren’t the best people for the job. Other old duffers in government aren’t either. They’re out of touch with the world around them. The SC is going to hear a case about same-sex marriage, for example. Most justices and other judges are even out of touch with the sexual revolution of the sixties. They have no idea that same-sex couples can have the same loving relationship as a heterosexual couple—or they adhere to an Old Testament agenda of ignorance and bigotry. Many younger people don’t have any idea either, but they’re not on the SC judging an important case. But, in general, they would have a different perspective. It’s said that age brings wisdom, but that’s false. Experiencing life, the ever changing present, brings wisdom. If you have no clue about current sexual mores, technological advances, or what common citizens are currently concerned about, how can you set in judgment? How can you legislate? How can you lead?
When I saw that Space-X launch to replenish supplies on the ISS, I thought, “What a change from the sixties.” Early space efforts were technological miracles pulled off with piddling computer power, compared to today’s data-driven mega-machines and primitive communication systems, even without mentioning dangerous old rocket technology. Scientists and engineers from that era are either dead or retired. Yet scientific progress is accumulative—what goes on today is based on all that went before. Politics doesn’t work that way, primarily because political decisions today have to be appropriate for today’s problems, not yesterday’s. As much as we give lip service to knowing history to avoid repeating its errors, too many problems today have no history at all—they’re completely new problems! Yet their complexity and seriousness cry out for clever, well-thought-out solutions.
In short, politicians today need to be creative solvers of many problems the nation or human race hasn’t faced before. And they get a big grade of F for how they’re doing. Congress has become like an old English men’s club full of bickering, doddering old fools, emotionally haggling when they aren’t nodding off, leading privileged lives but generally bored by the whole business. The potential presidential candidates are old has-beens too—maybe qualified to change their grandchildren’s diapers, but hardly prepared to solve the problems facing the U.S. and the world.
As a baby boomer, I’m the first to admit our time has passed. We need to pass the torch on to folks better prepared to move the country forward. The problem is that I don’t see them, at any age. I’ve always been a political animal, but political animals are becoming extinct. The younger people I see around me are busy doing other things—politics is no longer an adventure and community service no longer matters, except for very local efforts more associated with charity. There’s nothing wrong with the latter, but someone must step forward or we’re doomed. Perpetuating dynasties like the Clintons and Bushes isn’t the solution. Hoping that serious problems will be solved by a Congressional debating club of old has-beens isn’t practical either. A cantankerous SC following a conservative agenda of old fools is detrimental to progress too.
A necessary condition for change can be found in term and age limits. Hillary, Jeb, and Mitt are all too old. Many Congress people are either too old or have been there far too long. Most SC judges are ready for embalming. But term and age limits don’t represent a sufficient condition—they aren’t a silver bullet, because if we don’t have younger people stepping forward, democracy is doomed. I’m discounting rowdy, rebellious youth who wish to tear down and carry us into anarchy. We’ve always had those people, and they produce nothing except agitation. I’m counting on those willing to work within the system, taking a few steps forward, maybe a few back, but also willing to look for creative solutions to problems that ail society. That’s not happening now, and we’re worse for it.
And so it goes….
