Political leaders over 70 may only have 5–10 years left in their lives, yet the policies and decisions they make can impact generations.
Because of that, I wonder if they feel less personal responsibility for the long-term consequences of their choices. Should there be an upper age limit for holding political office—just like there are minimum age requirements?
On the flip side, you could argue that experience and wisdom grow with age, and cutting off senior leaders could rob countries of valuable expertise.
What do you think? Should there be a ban or age limit for politicians, or is this kind of thinking unfair and ageist?
Should political leaders over 70 be barred from holding office?
byu/LuckyYard3713 ineconomy
Posted by LuckyYard3713
7 Comments
Feels like it’s not an “economy” issue
For president yes. If there’s a minimum age limit there should be a maximum age limit.
Yeeeeessssss!!!!!
Yes, yes and yes….. they have constantly shown to be out of touch, ignorant and tone-deaf.
Considering the average life expectancy for millennials is 90-100, and younger generations are cognitively declining at a much, much slower rate than boomers; no. There is a big difference between Trump, who indulge in the popular lifestyle in his early 20s where bad food was a common thing and exercise was viewed as vanity, and Gen Z today, who are obsessed with skin care and will likely have the cure for cancer. I think we should reserve age limits for a case by case situation. We could implement cognitive testing as a part of the application process to be a presidential candidate.
I think two term limits would mostly solve that problem for us, the problem ultimately is that incumbents have a huge advantage, so the people who get elected just tend to stay there forever.
What you suggest is to deprive voters of the opportunity to decide this on a case by case basis at the ballot box. Not everyone ages the same. Restraining voters is the opposite of liberty.