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Should we be worried about older politicians?

19 points by clouddrover 3y ago

protocolture 3y ago
We should be worried about politicians, so it only follows.
- ttyprintk 3y ago
  It’s hard to tell if you accept the premise of the article, that “neuropolitics” is any more informative than other identity politics. Under any system, those attracted to power will reflect the means of attaining it. Considering gerontocracy, we can expect an industry to emerge based on shaping ideas to appeal to that age range. Ideas found too inaccessible by the very old fall outside the Overton window of what debate is allowed in the legislature. Abortion and adoption, long-term consequences of funding education, technology and as the decision makers age out of daily cultural contact, unfamiliar cultural trends like diet, recreational drugs, public transit. These need to be communicated via staff and lobbyists who pick which issues are most negotiable with favored stances of the very old. I think you’d agree that this could happen with any set of politicians as it approaches a monoculture. If it were agrarian slaveowners (Ancient Rome or parts of Colonial America), historians would watch as they picked which challenges to solve, and why. We get to watch as legislation is shaped to appeal to people whom it will never be relevant to.
faeriechangling 3y ago
Cognitive testing is a can of worms that would lead to endless bickering, and the problem with politicians not retiring isn't simply their lack of cognitive ability. It's that the age skews so high that politicians aren't truly in touch with the electorate and are bias towards the concerns of seniors. It's that baby boom generations end up building disproportionate amount of clout which is basically unbroken until they literally die, and forced retirement would break up these networks of clout faster. It's that it's a double standard to set an age minimum but then not set an age maximum and instead rely on schemes like neurocognitive testing. If an age maximum is so unthinkable because it's vile ageism - so is an age minimum. Maybe set the maximum age at 75 at the start of their term. Sanders, Biden, Trump, Feinstein, McConnell, and Pelosi should all not be running. Setting term limits would also have the same effect of driving down the average age of the congress/senate.

19 points by clouddrover 3y ago

protocolture 3y ago

We should be worried about politicians, so it only follows.

ttyprintk 3y ago
It’s hard to tell if you accept the premise of the article, that “neuropolitics” is any more informative than other identity politics. Under any system, those attracted to power will reflect the means of attaining it. Considering gerontocracy, we can expect an industry to emerge based on shaping ideas to appeal to that age range. Ideas found too inaccessible by the very old fall outside the Overton window of what debate is allowed in the legislature. Abortion and adoption, long-term consequences of funding education, technology and as the decision makers age out of daily cultural contact, unfamiliar cultural trends like diet, recreational drugs, public transit. These need to be communicated via staff and lobbyists who pick which issues are most negotiable with favored stances of the very old. I think you’d agree that this could happen with any set of politicians as it approaches a monoculture. If it were agrarian slaveowners (Ancient Rome or parts of Colonial America), historians would watch as they picked which challenges to solve, and why. We get to watch as legislation is shaped to appeal to people whom it will never be relevant to.

faeriechangling 3y ago

Cognitive testing is a can of worms that would lead to endless bickering, and the problem with politicians not retiring isn't simply their lack of cognitive ability. It's that the age skews so high that politicians aren't truly in touch with the electorate and are bias towards the concerns of seniors. It's that baby boom generations end up building disproportionate amount of clout which is basically unbroken until they literally die, and forced retirement would break up these networks of clout faster. It's that it's a double standard to set an age minimum but then not set an age maximum and instead rely on schemes like neurocognitive testing. If an age maximum is so unthinkable because it's vile ageism - so is an age minimum. Maybe set the maximum age at 75 at the start of their term. Sanders, Biden, Trump, Feinstein, McConnell, and Pelosi should all not be running. Setting term limits would also have the same effect of driving down the average age of the congress/senate.