Over three-fourths of Americans think there should be a maximum age limit for elected officials, according to a CBS News/YouGov survey.

  • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    He means that people have different rates of cognitive decline than others, so if you like this 70 year old politician and he’s great, why not?

    I think that’s ridiculous. Term AND age limits would make much brighter futures. We should be electing officials that will have to live under the shade of the trees they planted, which is not the case for most US politicians today.

    • hoshikarakitaridia@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Yeah the slippery slope makes no sense. I get that there isn’t a precise date to determine the start of cognitive decline, but why not just put an avery one as a limit in the law then? We do it for expiration dates as well.

    • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      If there were age limits it should be well below the point of any cognitive decline, because it’s also about having younger people in power who can think and plan on a scale of several decades, because that’s how long they have left to live.

      I’m thinking like 50.

      • TechyDad@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The problem with setting the age limit too low is that people of that age range might not feel represented.

        To give an example, I’m 48. One of my upcoming concerns is retirement. Will it be able to afford to retire? Will I need to work part time after “retiring” just to survive?

        If every politician in a position of power was too young, retirement might not seem to them to be an important issue. After all, when you’re 30, retirement seems forever away. They could enact policies that are great for people under 40 but devastating to people approaching retirement.

        That’s why, while I definitely think politicians like McConnell and Feinstein should have retired long ago, I’m leery about setting too low of a forced retirement age.

        • Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          I’m 31 and I’m pretty fuckin concerned with retirement. Because if I’m not now, I’ll probably never be able to.