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At what point does the cost of continuing the status quo outweigh changing it? How do you even measure something like that, when the people in charge of making

At what point does the cost of continuing the status quo outweigh changing it? How do you even measure something like that, when the people in charge of making changes won't live to see them? I think a major problem humanity has, among many others, is the way we assign leadership roles. Leadership of major institutions should be balanced not just among gender, but also among age. Every government should include decision makers under 40. When we don't have rules for this, we wind up with the current situation: the average Representative is 57, the average Senator is 61. [1] This might seem trite or pointless to many, but I really think we need decision-makers who will have to live with the longer-term consequences of their decisions. Mitch McConnell, the current majority leader in the Senate and one of the most powerful people in Congress, is 76. When the UN says we have 12 years to change our ways or suffer possibly world-ending consequences, how much does that matter to a 76-year old? I think it's pretty well established at this point that we can't rely on our leaders to think or act empathetically, or make decisions that matter beyond their party and the next re-election. We need to figure out a way to build future-focused thinking into our governance. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do it. [1]" https://www.quorum.us/data-driven-insights/the-115th-congress-is-among-the-oldest-in-history/175/ https://www.quorum.us/data-driven-insights/the-115th-congres...

saiya-jin 8y ago
You cant' expect some age limits will anyhow fix this. Plenty of amoral hawkish young people out there. In same vein, older people tend to have more clear view on whats really important in life, it ain't got anything to do with fast cars, flashy fashion or being popular on instagram. If they have kids and grandkids, they will be at least as concerned as younger should be.
ainiriand 8y ago
Take a look at the Irish Citizen Assembly which predates on your idea. The last decision was making abortion legal once and for all. https://www.citizensassembly.ie/en/ https://www.citizensassembly.ie/en/
undersuit 8y ago
I don't see how making us have more diverse set of leaders will make things better. There are plenty of people under 40 I don't want making decisions and there are plenty of people over 40 I do want making decisions. Diversity isn't going to make good leaders, it's going to give us diverse leaders.
- erikpukinskis 8y ago
  In general if you are suppressing a class of people’s participation, the top people in that class will be more apt than your average participant. So including them will increase the average aptitude. The only time that isn’t true is when you are suppressing a class of people who are fundamentally shittier than the dominant class. The affirmative action debate comes down to whether you think skewed performance numbers are evidence that a) some of the classes are superior to the others or b) the numbers don’t accurately measure performance. There’s nothing inherent in the data to point one way or the other. It’s just a litmus test on whether you’re a supremacist.

saiya-jin 8y ago

You cant' expect some age limits will anyhow fix this. Plenty of amoral hawkish young people out there. In same vein, older people tend to have more clear view on whats really important in life, it ain't got anything to do with fast cars, flashy fashion or being popular on instagram. If they have kids and grandkids, they will be at least as concerned as younger should be.

ainiriand 8y ago

Take a look at the Irish Citizen Assembly which predates on your idea. The last decision was making abortion legal once and for all. https://www.citizensassembly.ie/en/ https://www.citizensassembly.ie/en/

undersuit 8y ago

I don't see how making us have more diverse set of leaders will make things better. There are plenty of people under 40 I don't want making decisions and there are plenty of people over 40 I do want making decisions. Diversity isn't going to make good leaders, it's going to give us diverse leaders.

erikpukinskis 8y ago
In general if you are suppressing a class of people’s participation, the top people in that class will be more apt than your average participant. So including them will increase the average aptitude. The only time that isn’t true is when you are suppressing a class of people who are fundamentally shittier than the dominant class. The affirmative action debate comes down to whether you think skewed performance numbers are evidence that a) some of the classes are superior to the others or b) the numbers don’t accurately measure performance. There’s nothing inherent in the data to point one way or the other. It’s just a litmus test on whether you’re a supremacist.