10 ms·

The point about boomers is valid, but why? Let's simplify it a little more. In my parent's day, and my younger days, almost every politican had had a life firs

The point about boomers is valid, but why? Let's simplify it a little more. In my parent's day, and my younger days, almost every politican had had a life first. Lawyer, doctor, surgeon, Special Forces, union official, plenty of WW2 service too, you name it. You may not agree with their policy, but there was usually a huge breadth of life-experience, and often demonstrated knowledge even if you vary on the conclusion. We generally had older politicians as they had experience. There was a remnant of the once popular idea that after a successful life you gave something back in politics - locally or nationally. Now there's an expectation politicians need to be younger, media friendly etc. So now we're overrun by professional politicans who get their degree in PPE and expect to start chasing power the moment they graduate, with little more than family wealth or the increasingly common short PR/media career to look back on. They can draw on short political experience and little else. They increasingly have no idea how the world works. No amount of advisers and civil servants can close that gap.

jcadam 8y ago
In the U.S., we need to add about 20 years to the minimum age requirement for representatives, senators, and the president. Those were set back when the constitution was originally written (different world, etc.) and need to be increased. Also, set the minimum voting age to 30. That might help... some.
- AstralStorm 8y ago
  1) No, sorry, you will not get better politics with old politicians. We've had those before. 2) That will exclude interests of a major bloc that is increasingly more politically active nowadays and is essentially baiting a revolution. (Because young people do not know how destructive those can be.)
- rtkwe 8y ago
  What no... How will that actually change much, US politicians are currently quite a bit older than the minimum! > The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 115th Congress was 57.8 years; of Senators, 61.8 years, among the oldest in U.S. history Older doesn't mean better by default we've had year and years of governing by the old it's the default because they've had longer to raise their profile and to become independently wealthy enough to fund their campaigns. [0] https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44762.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44762.pdf
  - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
    But once elected, they tend to stay in office for a long period. What was their age when they first entered Congress?
    - rtkwe 8y ago
      I don't know it's, given it is to support your point try to find it yourself.
WhompingWindows 8y ago
Can you specify example names of professional politicians we are overrun by? I'm thinking and I can't even think of a single one. The majority of the famous politicians I can think of have some kind of law background, which is the former category you describe as the past.
- AstralStorm 8y ago
  The problem being that law nor economics is not (or no longer) the same as management or governance. Profession of politics does not preclude any backgrounds, though it favors the ones where making connections is the easiest.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  Chris Grayling - PR, then politics. Boris Johnson - Newspaper political opinion straight out of uni, mayor, MP. David Cameron, Conservative party researcher straight out of uni. William Hague of course. Tony Blair was first a candidate a few years out of uni.
- soyyo 8y ago
  In Spain, many lack any actual career outside politics, starting by the current president. They join some party at a young age, and try to get the most privileged position they can. It's also very common that the only jobs they have before/after their political career, are always in companies that belong to friends, relatives, political allies, or companies that have strong interests in how politics handle some regulations (such as energy companies). There are of course exceptions, but this is really common.
- AnimalMuppet 8y ago
  Bill Clinton, born 1946, entered politics in 1977 (state attorney general), so at age 31. Before that he was in law school, graduating in 1973. That leaves four years between graduation and entering politics. (Note, for correlation with the article's theme, that he is a baby boomer.) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez graduated in 2011, entered politics in 2018. She actually had more real-world experience than Bill Clinton, by quite a bit (seven years instead of four). Still, she was 29 when first elected. (Not a boomer.) Nancy Pelosi was 42 when first elected (though she became a member of the DNC when 36). But her father was a politician (Congressman from Maryland), and she helped with his campaigns, so she was literally working in politics from childhood. (She's slightly too old to be a boomer.) George W. Bush was born in 1946, graduated in 1968. He first ran for office in 1978, ten years after graduation. (He's a boomer.) Those are just the first four names that came to my mind, though in fairness AOC came to mind precisely because she's so young. Also, Pelosi is from a political family, which I didn't realize, but it often leads to earlier political involvement. Still, it seems that there are NeedMoreTea's point is valid: We've got more politicians who have been politicians for most or all of their professional lives, and less politicians who have been something else for an extended period and then went into politics.
bilbo0s 8y ago
>start chasing power the moment they graduate, with little more than family wealth or the increasingly common short PR/media career to look back on... Well, yeah, but that's not just Boomers. That's Millennials too. That's just the way politics is now. Even for the people who do have a "life". From Trump and Steve King to AOC and Mayor Pete. It's all just, kind of a popularity contest.
- derp_dee_derp 8y ago
  How do you objectively lump Trump in with this? He's had a very long career (whether or not is was successful or not is another question) and has been in the public eye for literally decades. Love him or hate him, Trump does not only have a "short PR/media career to look back on" and should not be lumped in with your other examples.
  - bilbo0s 8y ago
    ? I think you misread my post??? >*Even for the people who do have a "life"..." People like Trump and Steve King, or AOC and Mayor Pete. Maybe you disagree with what they did in former lives, but they did have a life, and they are every bit as inclined to "politic" as the people who didn't have a life. It's just what you have to do.
educationdata 8y ago
Advisers and civil servants, and so called "experts" are also part of the problem. Not just politicians, people who are given incredible amount of trust as experts are also incredibly incompetent. Look what CIA/FBI did pre-911 and post-911, pre-2016-election and post-2016-election, those are extraordinary incompetent and corrupt people, but they still pretend they have "high honor". On top of those, is the corrupt mainstream media, they don't even try to be journalists any more. They have no shame. Watching former CIA director John O. Brennan "confidently" bullsh*ting on the national TV over and over again, I am not sure who is more shameless, Brennan or the media?

jcadam 8y ago

In the U.S., we need to add about 20 years to the minimum age requirement for representatives, senators, and the president. Those were set back when the constitution was originally written (different world, etc.) and need to be increased. Also, set the minimum voting age to 30. That might help... some.

AstralStorm 8y ago
1) No, sorry, you will not get better politics with old politicians. We've had those before. 2) That will exclude interests of a major bloc that is increasingly more politically active nowadays and is essentially baiting a revolution. (Because young people do not know how destructive those can be.)
rtkwe 8y ago
What no... How will that actually change much, US politicians are currently quite a bit older than the minimum! > The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 115th Congress was 57.8 years; of Senators, 61.8 years, among the oldest in U.S. history Older doesn't mean better by default we've had year and years of governing by the old it's the default because they've had longer to raise their profile and to become independently wealthy enough to fund their campaigns. [0] https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44762.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44762.pdf
- AnimalMuppet 8y ago
  But once elected, they tend to stay in office for a long period. What was their age when they first entered Congress?
  - rtkwe 8y ago
    I don't know it's, given it is to support your point try to find it yourself.

WhompingWindows 8y ago

Can you specify example names of professional politicians we are overrun by? I'm thinking and I can't even think of a single one. The majority of the famous politicians I can think of have some kind of law background, which is the former category you describe as the past.

AstralStorm 8y ago
The problem being that law nor economics is not (or no longer) the same as management or governance. Profession of politics does not preclude any backgrounds, though it favors the ones where making connections is the easiest.
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Chris Grayling - PR, then politics. Boris Johnson - Newspaper political opinion straight out of uni, mayor, MP. David Cameron, Conservative party researcher straight out of uni. William Hague of course. Tony Blair was first a candidate a few years out of uni.
soyyo 8y ago
In Spain, many lack any actual career outside politics, starting by the current president. They join some party at a young age, and try to get the most privileged position they can. It's also very common that the only jobs they have before/after their political career, are always in companies that belong to friends, relatives, political allies, or companies that have strong interests in how politics handle some regulations (such as energy companies). There are of course exceptions, but this is really common.
AnimalMuppet 8y ago
Bill Clinton, born 1946, entered politics in 1977 (state attorney general), so at age 31. Before that he was in law school, graduating in 1973. That leaves four years between graduation and entering politics. (Note, for correlation with the article's theme, that he is a baby boomer.) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez graduated in 2011, entered politics in 2018. She actually had more real-world experience than Bill Clinton, by quite a bit (seven years instead of four). Still, she was 29 when first elected. (Not a boomer.) Nancy Pelosi was 42 when first elected (though she became a member of the DNC when 36). But her father was a politician (Congressman from Maryland), and she helped with his campaigns, so she was literally working in politics from childhood. (She's slightly too old to be a boomer.) George W. Bush was born in 1946, graduated in 1968. He first ran for office in 1978, ten years after graduation. (He's a boomer.) Those are just the first four names that came to my mind, though in fairness AOC came to mind precisely because she's so young. Also, Pelosi is from a political family, which I didn't realize, but it often leads to earlier political involvement. Still, it seems that there are NeedMoreTea's point is valid: We've got more politicians who have been politicians for most or all of their professional lives, and less politicians who have been something else for an extended period and then went into politics.

bilbo0s 8y ago

>start chasing power the moment they graduate, with little more than family wealth or the increasingly common short PR/media career to look back on... Well, yeah, but that's not just Boomers. That's Millennials too. That's just the way politics is now. Even for the people who do have a "life". From Trump and Steve King to AOC and Mayor Pete. It's all just, kind of a popularity contest.

derp_dee_derp 8y ago
How do you objectively lump Trump in with this? He's had a very long career (whether or not is was successful or not is another question) and has been in the public eye for literally decades. Love him or hate him, Trump does not only have a "short PR/media career to look back on" and should not be lumped in with your other examples.
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  ? I think you misread my post??? >*Even for the people who do have a "life"..." People like Trump and Steve King, or AOC and Mayor Pete. Maybe you disagree with what they did in former lives, but they did have a life, and they are every bit as inclined to "politic" as the people who didn't have a life. It's just what you have to do.

educationdata 8y ago

Advisers and civil servants, and so called "experts" are also part of the problem. Not just politicians, people who are given incredible amount of trust as experts are also incredibly incompetent. Look what CIA/FBI did pre-911 and post-911, pre-2016-election and post-2016-election, those are extraordinary incompetent and corrupt people, but they still pretend they have "high honor". On top of those, is the corrupt mainstream media, they don't even try to be journalists any more. They have no shame. Watching former CIA director John O. Brennan "confidently" bullsh*ting on the national TV over and over again, I am not sure who is more shameless, Brennan or the media?