Politicians..
Looking around the world it's notable just how old the leaders of the US are..
On the right, Donald Trump is 72, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is 76, and the ranking Republican senator, Orrin Hatch, is 84. And while the House speaker, Paul Ryan, is only 48, he is set to retire in November, leaving it open as to who will replace him.
On the left, Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the House, is 78, while Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the Senate judiciary committee, is 85. What is more, the two leading contenders to be the Democrats’ nominee for president, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are 77 and 69, respectively
Consider this against Macron and Trudeau, both in their 40s, or even May and Xi Jinping, in their early to mid 60s. Angela Merkel is 64 and she's been around a while. In fact if you look around the world leaders tend to be in the 45-65 age group.
Government representation is growing old as a whole in the US.
But it’s not just leadership that’s graying. The average age of congressional representatives has been increasing since 1981. In 2001, it was 55 years old; in 2011, 58, and in the current Congress, 59. Typically, congressional representatives are 20 years older than their constituents.
So is it a good thing to be led by people who are probably out of touch in a fast moving world? What do we think is causing this in the US, or is it just a passing phase?
I could half believe it's the end of a cycle of established party people and the next generation is coming in shortly, or perhaps the youth vote has just dropped up to a higher age.. or perhaps Gen X is just a pretty small population compared to other generations and so they haven't come through in the US.
I think the risk lies part in a lack of proper representation as well as decisions being made where the impact is greatest on those furthest away.
Yet my mind is small and limited compared to the great pool of wisdom and impartiality that is NSG, so what do you think?
