Should We Have More Young People in Positions of Power?

[Sir Pancreas]

I am a firm believer that we need young people in office. By young, I mean not JFK or Bill Clinton, but people in their 20s and 30s. Whenever I tell people this, they always say the same thing: "You don't have enough experience when you're young." But I have two arguments against that. One, it's not like the guys running the show now are doing a hell of a great job-- why not some change? Two, some of history's greatest leaders were younger than today's stuffy politicians-- Augustus Caesar, Napoleon, Joan of Arc. Why are all of our senators and congressman-- and even public officials down to the municipal level-- so frickin' old? I realize that there aren't a lot of young people interested in seeking public office, but part of the problem is they aren't encouraged to. Vote, yes; but not disrupt the elderly intelligentsia running the program.

I think a lot of problems we are having in today's society have to do with old leadership. The spotlight is always on senior citizens-- Social Security, prescription drug coverage, etc. I realize these things are important, but should they really take precedence over the generations of the future-- who have to live under a disastrous public education system and often disappear into the underworld of drugs and poverty, never to emerge? The old politicians cater to the old constituency-- and our inner cities, where these people do NOT live, are a complete mess. The leadership of this country lives in its own little world of bingo halls and golf, and some people, such as those in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, are living in conditions probably not found anywhere else in the First World, surrounded by crime and drugs. I'd think a younger leadership would be more concerned with our REAL problems than what we have now.

I'm getting a little off topic... but does anyone else agree with me that we would be better off if we had some young blood in D.C.?

[Buzzsaw]

No, I don't agree. People in their twenties are typically dumbasses. Not all, but most.

Anyway, what do you propose? Young people don't vote most of the time, so why should they lead?

[seektravelinfo]

Younger people in power? Well, my daughter has been running my life ragged for the past 17 years.
When she is an adult, which will be soon, she'll learn.
I think it is rare for anyone in their twenties to have the context that is a necessary component of extraordinary leadership.
As a seasoned adult (I am now 50) I've come across way too many 30 year old nitwits with MBA's and Franklin planners.
I'm old enough now not to believe my own bullshit. A priceless lesson.

[waylonwally]

a lot of older folks are dumb asses too, and they also don't all vote. do you think gwb is smart?

older people in politics are wickedly devious and can speak enough bullshit to finance their campaigns with a lot of more bullshit promises which most of the times are never fullfiled.

so you are damned with the young too dumb to lead, and the old too smart to be trusted, and other olds that are just plain old stupid, compounded by the fact that most american adults cannot understand the terms on their ballots. the human gene pool is about as muddy as it ever was. we were fucked from the beginning.

shoulda stay as monkeys and we would have more fun eating bananas, swing on tree branches, stay naked, and have promiscuous sex all the time.

[el3so]

but does anyone else agree with me that we would be better off if we had some young blood in D.C.?

hate to burst your bubble, Sir Pancreas, but over in Belgium we've got some young politicos (mid 20s, next post 'll have pics of the females) some of 'em in power.
My council has the youngest ever alderwoman, just 18 when she got elected and allthough she's has blood-ties to folks I really like, it ain't more than a media stunt.

Doesn't make any difference 'cos even the young ones have been amongst fellow politicans and other lawyery types for plenty of time to be ruined by spin-talk and partisan punditry to be any different from older ones.

Politics is all about maintaining the status quo IMO

[Sri Lanky]

Nepotism runs rampant in politics....there's nothing like it.

[el3so]

and if you'll now please move your eyes over to the right fringe...

[SRR]

Yes, I'd like to have more young females in various positions.

Where do I sign up?

[kilroy]

i'd definitely be right-wing if i lived in belgium.

but seriously, age is a stupid indicator to use to choose someone's position. if we're talking about an ideal situation, merit should be the only thing considered. age, sex, race, religion, etc: irrelevant.

[wreck99]

wasn't Attila the hun in his mid twenties by the time he had amassed all of his power and on the verge of crushing the romans?


shit ... 'welcome to it' ... I'm 26 years old and I'm happy to get to work on time. ugh.. so much for the 'youngster generation'

attila would kick my ass. and ... that depresses the shit out of me.

[el3so]

I'm 26 years old and I'm happy to get to work on time.

take it easy amigo.
The girl in the top pic is one year my junior and she was already selling out Sabena as a union rep while I was busy figuring out how many bottles of vodka I'd be able to buy with an hour's worth of work.

Life's all about priorities ;-)

[ROB]

Alexander conquered the known world by 23,

Attila has already been mentioned.

Joan or Arc

But who the hell would want to live under the leadership of any of them? Not fun.

[SRR]

Alexander conquered the known world by 23,

Yeah, that would never happen these days.

If Alexander was born, say, in 2000, he'd just be entering school now. Laws would require him to get a formal "think inside the box at all costs" education for 12 years at least, and then take some tests to see if he had a special aptitude for something like world domination. Otherwise he'd have to have extremely high marks at totall unrelated things such as trigonometry and chemistry to get into university, where he could take a four year course for a bachelor's that might land him a somewhat unrelated job. Then he could get his master's, PHD, and join a military where he could subjunct the old men in place and hopefully take it over, and direct his army's energy towards the plan of world domination. So I'd say your after modern day Alexander would be about 40 before he really started making a dent in international conquest circles.

Of course, there is the other option of him growing up uneducated or homeschooled only in the disciplines he'd need for the task of conquering, but the lefties would probably seize him from his forward-thinking parents and put him in an orphanage or something where he would be required to get a full higschool education under the 'no child left behind' program. If that doesn't wring every last bit of ambition out of him, the debt loads he'd assume from college will and he'll be enslaved in a cubicle trying to pay them back.

However, if he was raised under the auspices of an outlaw biker gang and shielded from prying liberal nanny-state hands, he might just have a chance to get it all done by 23.

Food for thought.....

[Royal]

i'd definitely be right-wing if i lived in belgium.

but seriously, age is a stupid indicator to use to choose someone's position. if we're talking about an ideal situation, merit should be the only thing considered. age, sex, race, religion, etc: irrelevant.

...............................

[el3so]

However, if he was raised under the auspices of an outlaw biker gang and shielded from prying liberal nanny-state hands, he might just have a chance to get it all done by 23

I like this one's attitude: complete disregard for conventions on correctly naming the weekdays and already a fan of binge drinking.
Looks like decent warlord material to me.