I am one of the millions of seniors who faced ageism. Most Americans are unaware that your social security number exposes your age group. When I was laid off from my last private-sector job in 2008, I faced multiple obstacles when seeking employment, and my age, 62, and being a male, presented problems I never expected. I was aware of the laws but learned that they meant nothing.
However, I do believe that age must be considered for all it entails when men and women seek certain positions which require energy likely unavailable to men and women who have reached an age that might render them incapable of performing certain jobs and certain responsibilities.
It is unthinkable to believe that an octogenarian could be elected to the presidency. It is equally unrealistic to think that a septuagenarian in the latter part of his decade could be elected for a second time while displaying obvious signs of mental and physical instability. This is what the American people are facing in the next general election, but maybe not.,
Some important facts support my concerns. First, and foremost is the average age of all 331 million Americans. Not only is the United States of America a young nation by world standards, but the average age of all Americans is also just 38.2 years of age.
America is changing, and many of the old, white men in congress are ignoring this fact, they will be forced to learn the hard way.
Millennials, roughly 25-40, are the largest voting demographic. Single women are voting in larger numbers than at any other time in history. More women are enrolled in our colleges and universities than men. Women are choosing careers over children and family in large numbers. Simply put, baby boomers, and aging Americans are less critical in our elections than 20 years ago. If millennials and women jointly support one candidate, that woman or man will be swept into office.
Regardless of the opinions of the “experts,” two old men about 80 years of age, cannot relate to the needs and wishes of 38-year-old Americans. A separation of two generations does make a difference.
Let’s look at the America of the mid-twentieth century when Biden and Trump were children. I can relate. We were babies born near the end of WWII or just after. Our parents and grandparents were facing enormous change. The American economy was quickly transitioning from a wartime economy to a peacetime when women were returning home as their men returned from the battlefield to replace them in the workplace. Reunited couples with the only birth control available being prophylactics, produced the baby boom. Our nation’s larger cities were growing rapidly because that’s where the jobs were. Some small towns became non-existent. Our factories were still operating in the 48 contiguous states, and jobs were plentiful. Nearly everything used or consumed by our nation’s people was made or grown in America. Detroit was thriving as automobile production replaced the need for war machines. The changes were rapid and many, and impossible to list in a short article.
Trump experienced the changes as he grew up in a new America, but was never a part of a government that was forced to adapt as other nations began to become economic powerhouses, including our former enemy, Japan. Germany began to grow and build expensive and exciting modes of transportation, reliable appliances, and other items used in millions of American homes.
The biggest difference between Trump and Mr. Biden is that our current president entered the political office for the first time in 1972 as a United States Senator from Delaware. He has remained in our government continuously and now as our 46th president. He has experienced not only changes in America but also in the world. He understands the responsibilities of the presidency, Trump does not.
A President of the United States of America is not only required to address the issues facing our nation but situations that affect America happening all over the world. Trump failed to address a single issue facing our nation over four years, including a pandemic that cost the lives of more than one million Americans, because he is incapable of doing so. He remains the least qualified man to run for the presidency in history.
This said I do not believe that either of these old, white men will be on the ballot in 2024. It’s just common sense.
It seems obvious that Kamala Harris will step up, but today’s Republicans in name only have no one qualified to lead our nation. Their problem.
Op-ed by James Turnage, Novelist
Sources:
TDPel: White House insiders say President Joe Biden remains ‘intellectually engaged’ but they also ‘quietly watch out for him,’ fearful he may injure himself or fumble his words during events
Maddison: Biden, Trump too old to be president
Britannica: Joe Biden
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Mobilus In Mobili‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of adonis paul hunter‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
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