Age of Prosperity
Lost Lessons
Perhaps you have noticed something about politicians in modern history. Perhaps you have realized their age, the onset of certain signs of mental degeneration, or even the physical manifestations of senescence. There is something wrong in the air, something quite foul, and it is not the scent of incontinence that follows these geriatric political elite, but their perverse control of governmental institutions that have held sway over many nations for decades.
This is the age of the gerontocracy, a state controlled by the elderly. No matter the nation, if a country has maintained stability for a sufficient amount of time, the average age of their politicians in parliament as well as their political leaders starts a slow creep upwards. Even worse is a country that has been ruled by the same politicians that were once young and vibrant but have held onto the reins of political power and refused to let go to the younger generations and still maintain their place atop the pyramid of power.
I will speak of the United States specifically, but what I am about to state will more broadly reflect stable western nations as a whole. The average age of a US senator at the moment of writing this is 62.9 years of age, meaning the average age is almost exactly when most people would retire from work altogether. The onset of many diseases and mental degenerations rises with age, and there are specific examples that are on an individual basis much worse than the average, with certain politicians exceeding even 89 years of age.
However decrepit the average politicians is now, it did not always used to be this way. In the birth of a naton the age of the revolutionaries is often very young. We think of the founding fathers as elderly now because the fashion of the time involved wearing white wigs which makes one look older, but that is just not the reality. Take some of the ages of the founding fathers for example during July 4th 1776.
James Monroe, age 18.
John Marshall, age 20.
Alexander Hamilton, age 21.
Henry Knox, age 25.
James Madison, age 25.
In fact, George Washington himself was only 44 years old at the time. Now the age range did vary, with some members even reaching 81, as there have always obviously always been the elderly, but the average age of the founding fathers was still below 40 years of age, with the bulk of the men being in the prime of their youth or in the great middle of experience and vitality. This is the secret weapon behind all great revolutions, the young overturning the old and infirm, the strong and beautiful overtaking the weak and ugly.
Here we can see the average age of house politicians in the U.S. has been climbing steadily, with the average age of republicans slightly declining, but the average age of democrats soaring.
Now think of Alexander the Great conquering the Persia and the Hellenic world in his 20s. Think of Caesar taking the whole of Gaul by his early 40s. Think of Augustus as he became the first Roman emperor at age 35. Think of the Antonines in the prime of their experience and youth following the examples of Hadrian and Trajan in their 40s. Every great revolutionary is young and vitalistic! Every great stable leader is in a happy medium between youth and decrapacy. Very rarely is any great leader over the age at which the body breaks down in their 60s and beyond.
In nature, the elderly never hold on to power for long, it is a manifestation of civilization only that enables political elite to grasp power and to hold onto it while those more suited for the positions are unable to seize anything noteworthy. Inbetween the ages of the gerontocracy and that of the revolutionaries, there is the age of prosperity. While the young men bring the vigor of youth to any institution they inhabit, there is necessarily a lack of experience. On the opposite extreme exists the elderly men who have accumulated too much time wasting away their body and minds but have enough experience and then some to govern.
In the age of prosperity, somewhere in the midst of a man’s 30s to the midst of a man’s 50s exists a happy medium of vitality, vigor, strength, youth, vision, and more, saddled with enough experience to endeavor the dark waters of a state. Whether or not you believe in the ability of a democracy to sustain a nation is irrelevant, the age of your nation-state’s leader cannot be allowed to unnendingly creep forward until they drag the people down with them. The age of the gerontocracy is upon us, and the geriatrics wish to not take risks, they wish to shut down the economy at the slightest hint of unease in order to fulfill their need for safety, and they’re ruining their nations.
Youth must be brought back into the fold of the governing body of nations, or the elderly shall lead the body which is governed into their own graves.
