• FoxBJK@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Feinstein and now McConnell. It shouldn’t be necessary but it’s now bipartisan proof that maybe we should force people of a certain age into retirement.

    I’ll happily admit to being ageist. I don’t care. Once you hit the mid 70s (arguably earlier) you should be ordered to go the fuck home by Congress.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      if it’s ageist to say that people can be too old to be in government, then it’s definitely ageist to say they can be too young, too.

      Imagine having a toddler command the nuclear football. (oh wait. we already had that.)

      • Drusas@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Unfortunately, ageism in the US is only illegal against older adults. I really struggled with this when I was overseeing young volunteers, one of whom was being treated like crap just because he was young by the older people he was volunteering for. Totally legal for them to outright speak of his age as making him useless (and he was a good worker! and kind!). I was so angry that I couldn’t do much of anything to help him.

    • Drusas@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I don’t think it should necessarily be a hard age cap (which is illegal in the US, anyway), but I do think all politicians and judges should have to be able to pass cognitive function tests annually with absolutely no concerns raised by them. I’d require it probably as low as age 50 or 55, because dementia can come early.

      And they should not be allowed to choose their own doctors for these exams. They should all see the same handful of doctors, randomly assigned each year, so as to reduce bias.