With all the talk about discrimination based on race, ethnic background, gender, and sexual lifestyle, one kind that’s not talked about as much is discrimination based on age.
But there are growing concerns about age discrimination in recent times as a good number of our political leaders age.
Especially now with calls for California’s senior U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein to resign. She’s 89 years old, with a case of shingles keeping her away from the Senate. But there have been those in recent months who think she is becoming or even saying she has become senile.
Of course, the age issue also always comes up about President Biden, who’s 80 years old, and former President Donald Trump who is nearing 80 and will be 77 in June. And there is Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, who is 81 years old.
The current median age of the entire U.S. Senate is 65.3 years. In the U.S. House the median age is just under 60 years old.
So a debate has been brewing about whether age should matter when electing our leaders. There are minimum age requirements for anyone running for Congress and for President. Should there be a maximum age limit?
Age, of course, affects different people in different ways. But if an old axiom is true, that we become wiser as we age, more wisdom would be welcome among all of our nation’s leaders.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: Getty Images