As I look forward to turning 70 next year (how did that happen?), I find myself reflecting on what it means to age and what your age actually means. We all have built-in assumptions about what we expect from people based on their age, especially the older ones. And yet, why? If you remember your grandparents, didn’t they seem to be a LOT older than you are now? If you’re a Baby Boomer, look around you. Don’t some people in your age group seem much older or younger than you might expect?
Unfortunately, despite many late-in-life successes, society still has bounds around aging, such as the common requirement to force out university professors when they reach the “magic age.” Many people can continue to teach classes, direct research and publish, but not all. Perhaps get rid of the age rule, and allow mental/physical fitness tests to determine suitability to continue in this honored profession. Another example could be the medical profession. I had a great doctor who continued to work well into his ‘80’s, “retiring” only when he passed away peacefully in bed. FDR set the Social Security retirement age as 65, many years ago. But we’re healthier now and can often work longer. Age isn’t the factor; physical and mental fitness is what we should look at.
We’re hung up on a number that is meaningless. Instead, we should be looking at mental and physical fitness, which is, to some degree, controllable. The field of epigenetics can give us hope that we can change our genetic destiny and even improve on environmental issues we’ve brought on ourself. Anyone remember hours spent in the sun to achieve a tan? “Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.” However, at some point, you are what you are, no matter your age.
Age and Politics
Many of my active and mentally tough friends are older than I am, some even older than Joe Biden. Biden’s age is NOT the issue. After all, Trump is pretty old too, and one can see that he is both physically robust and mentally all-there. I also know people who retired in place long before they took retirement. They failed to grow as people, stagnated mentally, and showed both physical and mental impairment even as early as their ‘40’s. There’s also a very sad condition—early-onset Alzheimer’s—which can rob a person as early as their ‘40’s of their mental faculties. I think an independent doctor should assess politicians’ fitness yearly, or more often if an incident occurs (DiFi???)
Biden barely works a few hours a day, if you can call it work. No one is sure who is really running our country; it isn’t him. Many Dems are saying they can’t vote for Biden. This makes sense, when you consider his liabilities, the lack of knowledge of who is doing his job AND that no one wants Kamala to step in. We can’t continue to support a President who can’t do the job, is failing in physical and mental health and who can be pushed around. We’ve seen it. Whatever the far Left wants, he nods and signs. This has hurt our economy, the opportunity we promise our young people, the future of a free and safe world. His performance is not earning us the respect we deserve in the world. Even if he were 40, given his health issues, he should not be President.
What Matters
What we need to focus on in looking at candidates, beyond their policies and their honesty about keeping to them, is their ability to do the job. For most of the candidates, we have history. We can see what they stand for, how honest they are, how much they delivered on the promises made…and yes, how healthy they are. For Republicans, we have an amazing slate of candidates who meet all these standards.
I’m looking hard at Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy. Both tick boxes the Left can get behind in terms of “diversity.” But more important, they tick the boxes I mention above. They are both focused on the future and a positive vision of America. The Left sees things through a filthy window, believing America is deeply flawed and unable to get better. Who needs that point of view? My experience has been that when my focus is positive, I plan AND expect great things, that is what happens. But when I am mired in depression, bad things happen too. We need positive populism (thank you, Steve Hilton).
Values matter. What do our candidates value? Look at their histories. And also, consider what chance they have to make a positive impact in their term of office. I’ve previously blogged about why Trump should not be our candidate, notwithstanding the Left’s dream that he will be. He wasn’t able to accomplish nearly all he had planned because of constant legal woes. Does anyone believe his legal issues will be less in 2025? And look for a candidate who can get the disaffected Left on board. The Republican crowd has people that can attract a broader audience. Vote for that.
The Left is in trouble. They have Biden. While I think RFK, Jr. has had a positive impact on the Covid issue, what else does he stand for? He won’t get the nomination, although he will pull votes away from Biden. But we will run against Biden, so we have to think strategically about who can win. And who will then deliver on the goals we all share; a free country that offers opportunity and promise to our young, an economy that allows dreams to come true and safety and security, both internally and externally. Is that too much to hope for?
