June 13, 2022: Too High of Expectations?

In 1776, Washington was 44, John Adams was 40, Patrick Henry was 40, Thomas Paine was 39, Thomas Jefferson was 33, James Madison was 25, Nathan Hale was 21, Alexander Hamilton was 21 and James Monroe was 18.

Our country expects too much politically from people clearly in cognitive decline, and it expects too little from young people who are treated as children until they are 26.

We could see significant improvements in many areas when we move toward a meritocracy and away from a gerontocracy.

Benjamin Franklin was 70 in 1776. The foolishness (and sin) of Baby Boomers rejecting the authority and wisdom of everyone over 30 was deeply wrong and had negative impacts that linger on, but the proper level of respect for the voices of elders does not mean that we pretend that those clearly struggling with cognition are the best rulers for our daily lives.

Everyone has value, and over time, people who have invested in learning instead of marking time with entertainment and gossip have attained a level of wisdom that younger generations deeply need to hear from. Some of my favorite people to listen to are old enough to be my grandparents.

My generalized observation (sure to be wrong in some particulars) is that Baby Boomers as a group took power from the generation above them at a fairly precocious age and are now loathe to give it up.

The most obvious example is the intergenerational theft of our social security system. I have paid into that system for 28 years. When I begin to benefit from it in 23 more years at a minimum it will be bankrupt. What that likely means is that it will be modified and means tested.

Ultimately America will be better after a searching examination of the ways in which we are politically seeing both the Peter Principle and a gerontocracy. We suffer because of those controlled by K street lobbyists from a uniparty Republicrat group controlling most Federal power. Outsiders will always be despised and destroyed if possible because our bloated federal government is pushing forward ruinous financial, domestic and foreign policies that benefit the insiders even as they punish most of us.

That must change. I hope the change begins this fall. In 1994 the “Contract With America” had several pieces that I support that did not happen. One critical piece was term limits. Our country has enough celebrity worship and free media support that strong brands are built and incumbents are incredibly difficult to unseat. Term limits would help us begin to fix what is broken in DC.