Perhaps it’s fitting that America is coming to the end of its lifespan.
Because our leaders are certainly coming to the end of theirs.
Back to back, we’ve had the two oldest presidents in US history. The US Congress now has two dozen octogenarians and at least one nonagenarian.
More than half of those lawmakers are running for re-election, because hey, why retire and let someone younger make decisions that will affect future generations when you can shuffle around the corridors of power and never endure the long-term consequences of your actions?
By the way, the gap between “the average age of an American and the average of a member of Congress has been growing, especially over the last 15 years.”
Political scientists have a term for this: gerontocracy (aka rule by older generations).
I’ve written before about the Scourge… I mean Baby Boomers. This is a generation that preached peace and love in its youth but then shrieked, “Give me more and kill them all” in its old age.
It’s bad enough that Boomers hoarded everything for themselves while lecturing younger people about being selfish, which doesn’t even get into how this most pampered of generations has the cojones to insist that everyone under 60 is weak because we don’t appreciate the decimated society and world they left us.
No, the lasting political legacy of this far from greatest generation is their refusal to cede power.
My generation (Gen X) will likely never have a president, as the country will probably leap from Baby Boomer domination to Millennial stewardship. That’s ok. We’re used to being ignored.
But what’s not ok is that this shift to younger leadership is not happening anytime soon.
We have enfeebled senators blubbering their way through their terms but still insisting on running for reelection. That’s when they’re not dropping dead of old age or disappearing because of age-related calamities.
And it goes beyond politics. We are enduring “a quiet slide into generational inequality, in which older, disproportionately wealthy voters and homeowners shape the economy — and America’s democracy — to their advantage while insisting they’re really the ones who are under siege.”
Boomers now hold more than half of American wealth despite making up just 20% of the population. Economists say that “the old rich have pulled away from everyone else,” meaning that the US is not just an oligarchy, but is also an “oldigarchy.”
And as far as social or cultural progress, keep in mind that “an aging society is more set on preservation than on renovation.” Boomers don’t much care for things that didn’t exist in their day, like trans people and female CEOs. Hell, they don’t much care for things that they actually did have in their day, like affordable college and scientific breakthroughs, because those concepts no longer affect them personally.
No, older Americans just want to live out their remaining years in peace and quiet. And that means holding on to as much power and money as they can while exhibiting pathological indifference to their children and grandchildren.
That’s far from ok, Boomer.
