Some years ago, my wife and I went to dinner with a colleague of mine whose wife was Japanese. At the restaurant, the waiters brought the food to the table in bulk, and it was up to diners to serve themselves. The Japanese woman took charge and served me first. When I asked why, she said, “You are the wisest.” A nice way of saying “oldest,” illustrative of the fact that in many cultures, older people are revered for the wisdom that often accompanies advanced age.
But not here! Age is associated with the loss of attractiveness and cognitive decline. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is already playing the age card unabashedly, reminding us that the electorate doesn’t want to see another battle between two old men.
She’s right about that, and as I have said before, the prejudice has a much shallower basis than most believe. Wisdom is nice, but many younger folks just want to see a potential leader whose age is closer to their own and thus is more likely to represent them.
Racism has no basis in reason, but ageism does, in that older people are just less likely to be around as long. I would not have a problem with an upper age limit for running for President, like 75 or 80, but just set the number. Stay away from mental acuity testing. There is an age requirement at the low end for a Presidential run: 35. Should there be a character, wisdom, or historical awareness test for younger hopefuls? It’s all much too subjective – and variable.
You may know the Bible story about how Jesus got separated from his parents, who later found him in the temple in Jerusalem conversing there with the learned teachers, who were amazed at his wisdom. What was he, 12? On the other hand, we likely know people in our own lives for whom mental rigidity has set in very early, way before any actual dementia.
As an aside, many of us have seen the TV ads with someone saying something like: “I have three PhDs, am CEO of my own company and on the boards of two others, and am now studying astrophysics. But you know, I discovered recently that I was not quite as sharp as I used to be, so I started taking this drug and am now on top of my game again!”
Fine. All I can say in response to that is, two things happen to you when you get older. As I have now forgotten both of them, I can’t tell the joke anymore.
