[url]https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/04/the-united-states-of-gerontocrats.html[/url] or https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/04/the-united-states-of-gerontocrats.html - https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/04/the-united-states-of-gerontocrats.html ; The median age in the United States https://www.worlddata.info/average-age.php" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - is 38.5 years . Should a bunch of octogenarians be trusted to decide the fate of a much younger population? I of course fudged a bit. The story also named Schiff who is 62 and Newsom who is 55 years old. It also has voices of a few other people. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, age 33, is the youngest one. The three reporters who wrote the story are all about 40 years old. Still, Congress and the Supreme Court have an age problem. Internationally the average age of the U.S. Congress is unusually high. The average age of https://fiscalnote.com/blog/how-old-118th-congress" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - 118th Congress is 58 years . In the House of representatives the average is 57 years while the Senators have an average age of 64 years. The average age of the members of the German Bundestag https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/272474/3c8da5a8d3b2b1c1a2829f60024ad363/Kapitel_03_02_Durchschnittsalter-pdf-data.pdf" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - is 49 years which is only two years more than the median age of the German population. While there is no upper age limit for members of the Bundestag the judges of the German supreme court (Verfassungsgericht) have to retire when they pass 68. The French Assemblée https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2022/06/23/rejuvenated-french-assemblee-sees-increase-in-middle-class-and-young-members-drop-in-women_5987722_5.html" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - has a similar average age as the Bundestag. The members British House of Commons has an average age https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/house-of-commons-trends-the-age-of-mps/" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - of about 50 . (The members of the less powerful House of Lords have an average age of 70. But most of the 770+ members do not attend parliament procedures. The Lords chamber, rarely filled, only has a seating capacity for about 300 members.) How come that the average age of Congress members is a decade older than the average age of other parliaments? I genuine do not understand why that is the case. What are the consequences? I can think of only bad ones. How could this be changed? Introduce a formal age limit for members of Congress and judges. Due to the old average age of Congress this would be difficult to pass if the limit is too low. But a limit of 75 years would probably pass and sounds good to me. Any better ideas?
DJ, If you want young(er) people to get an interest in politics then politics should be not an "old peoples club"....Here in NL lots of smaller suburban municipalities also end up being "an old age club"...trying to preserve their position-not doing the job that is needed.... The MoA article ; the definition of a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerontocracy" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); text-decoration: underline; - gerontocracy : A gerontocracy is a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. In many political structures, power within the ruling class accumulates with age, making the oldest individuals the holders of the most power. Those holding the most power may not be in formal leadership positions, but often dominate those who are. In a simplified definition, a gerontocracy is a society where leadership is reserved for elders. This comes with political consequences. lots of other political structures will have informal leaders, old and trying to save their heritage. As long as that solves problems it may function...when it starts creating only more problems, goes for denial, it becomes a very major problem... Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) and Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English" style="text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background: none; overflow-wrap: break-word;" title="Help:IPA/English - / - ˈ - aɪ - ən/ ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:En-us-Biden2.ogg" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background: none; overflow-wrap: break-word;" title="About this sound"> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/En-us-Biden2.ogg" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background: none; overflow-wrap: break-word;" title="En-us-Biden2.ogg - listen ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); overflow-wrap: break-word; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" title="Help:Pronunciation respelling key - - BY-dən ; born November 20, 1942) may both be to old for the job to "run" the US...In France there is a lot of protest increasing retirement age to 64...In NL retirement is at 67,3 years of age...There are good reasons for people stopping a "job" before 70...(nothing wrong with doing some work later on...but knowing your limits is wisdom!)...
------------- We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
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