This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org.
During the second Presidential debate of 1984, in response to the question of whether he was too old to be president, the 73-year-old incumbent, Ronald Reagan, deflected the question by good-naturedly teasing his 56-year-old Democratic opponent, Walter Mondale.
“I will not make age an issue of this campaign,” Reagan says. “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Of course, Reagan was well aware of the reservations a number of people had about someone his age continuing to hold such a demanding job. Playing on those concerns by flipping them gave his quip extra punch.
““The reality is that the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of our political leadership does not accurately reflect the demographic makeup of the country. So why are we singling out age as the primary defining characteristic?””
— Tracey Gendron, chair of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Gerontology and executive director of the Virginia Center on Aging.
But at the time, Reagan wasn’t the only older person with power in Washington. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill was 72, and Senate President Pro Tempore Strom Thurmond was 82.
Although pessimistic views about getting old have been a longstanding feature of American culture, being a politician of advanced age didn’t carry as much of a stigma back in the 1980s as it does in this election cycle.
Recent articles and op-eds in newspapers and magazines have cited the ages of long-term officeholders — 25 Senators are more than 70 years old and 76 Representatives are at least that age — to suggest that the United States has become a gerontocracy, a government ruled by old people.
There’s a reason for this growing preoccupation with lawmakers’ ages. “We are living longer, healthier lives than ever before,” says Tracey Gendron, chair of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Gerontology and executive director of the Virginia Center on Aging.
“The average life expectancy in the U.S. is rising, and that trend will continue,” she adds. “Longevity at this scale is a relatively new phenomenon, which is why this conversation is happening more and more.”
Nevertheless, Gendron notes, “describing present-day America as a gerontocracy is an easy, convenient and frankly lazy way to argue the current state of American politics…Age is but one component of a political leader’s identity, as are race, gender, education and experiences, etc.”
“The reality is that the racial, ethnic and gender makeup of our political leadership does not accurately reflect the demographic makeup of the country,” she says. “So why are we singling out age as the primary defining characteristic?”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is 89.
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The politics of ageism
Gendron, the author of “Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End It,” believes that ageism has permeated political discourse and that what qualifies people for public service should have little to do with their birthdays. Further, the same criteria for not judging people in other occupations should be applied to political figures as well.
Other experts in the field of aging agree.
“The media have often used derogatory terms like ‘silver tsunami’ to describe the rising numbers of seniors,” notes Dr. Dilip Jeste, professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at the University of California San Diego and past president of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.
“This has led to greater scrutiny of older leaders in politics and elsewhere,” Jeste adds. “Just as people should not be stereotyped and stigmatized because of their sex or race/ethnicity, they should not be discriminated due to their chronological age.”
Like any other “ism,” ageism categorizes and stereotypes people, ignoring the variety of their individual backgrounds, experiences and traits.
“America is diverse, and age is just another part of that diversity,” says Paul Irving, senior fellow and founding chairman of the Center for the Future of Aging at the Milken Institute and a 2016 Next Avenue Influencer in Aging.
“The argument [that America is a gerontocracy] simply reflects negative age bias,” he adds. “Power is found in the hands of people of all ages. Joe Biden is old; Mark Zuckerberg is young. Nancy Pelosi is old; Pete Buttigieg is young. Greta Thunberg is young; Al Gore is old.”
“There are people of all ages in positions of influence; there people of all ages living in the shadows. Power derives from social status and a wide range of social determinants, not from age,” Irving says.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is 88.
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The value of older leaders
Since longevity alone doesn’t explain the reason why older people may hold positions of political power, could there be other factors related to aging that explain why they do?
A case could be made that the leaders of government bodies have been able to rise to those positions because they have been re-elected multiple times and thus over the years have honed the political skills necessary to do their jobs.
“Many people mistakenly think that our development ‘stops’ at some point (e.g., ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’),” says Gendron. “But throughout our entire life, as we age, we continue to develop skills and abilities resulting from our years of experience.”
Adds Irving: “If someone is intelligent, informed, cognitively healthy and passionate about their work, experience and maturity are likely to enhance their effectiveness. Older adults know how to navigate, to deal with internal politics, and to reach multi-sectoral solutions.”
Jeste, who gave a 2015 TEDMED talk on elder wisdom, makes a key point.
“Chronological age is different from biological age — including brain age,” he explains. “Some people in their 80s and even 90s are cognitively functioning at a higher level than some in their 50s and 60s.”
“It is true that the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias increases with age,” he says; “however, it is worth noting that a majority of older people do not develop dementia. Nothing happens overnight on the 60th or 70th or 80th or 90th birthday to make people incompetent as leaders. Aging is heterogeneous — that is, as people get older, they become more different from one another. There is no one size of age that fits all.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is 80.
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Youth have a place in politics
That’s not to say that young people who seek political office lack advantages or gifts. “Youth bring energy, excitement, ambition, and innovation,” says Jeste, “while older adults bring empathy, emotional regulation, self-reflection, and openness to diverse perspectives, which all are components of wisdom.”
But he poses this caveat: “Needless to add that not all the youth and all the seniors exhibit these traits, but many do.”
That’s the point experts want to make. In elections, considerations other than age should matter at the polls.
“There is no age at which someone is ‘too old’ to run for office or to do anything else,” says Gendron. “Make a determination based on specific issues, views and actions. How well does the candidate represent your personal ideology? Will they support the causes you support?”
“Focus on the person, not their birth date,” advises Irving. “Whether they are old or young, these decisions should be made based on the candidate’s capability, integrity, leadership skills, performance, and similar factors — about the quality of the individual, not their age.”
In short, there’s no room for age on the ballot.
“For the human species to not just survive but also flourish and thrive,” explains Jeste, “we must make use of the complementary strengths that different generations tend to display. Numerous studies have clearly shown that when different generations work together, everyone benefits.”
Social gerontologist and Ageful Living blogger Jeanette Leardi is a Portland, Oregon–based community educator and public speaker who gives popular presentations and workshops on ageism, brain fitness, creativity, health literacy, and caregiver support. Her essays, articles, and book reviews have appeared in The Charlotte Observer, The Oregonian, the Dallas Morning News, Stria, ChangingAging, and 3rd Act Magazine.
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s auditor general says his office has found no evidence of a conflict of interest in the handling of provincial grants for the zero-emission vehicle sector, after an accusation by a truck maker earlier this year.
Michael Pickup says in a statement the investigation looked into accounting firm MNP’s handling of Advanced Research and Commercialization grant applications, reviewing “a significant amount of information” from the company, the government and all applicants.
Pickup says the results show no evidence MNP wrote grant applications for clients, influenced the evaluation process to benefit clients or used its administering of the program to “recruit” clients for the company’s other services.
In April, the provincial legislature unanimously directed Pickup’s office to examine allegations by electric-hybrid truck maker Edison Motors that MNP was both administering the grants and offering services to help businesses with applications.
The Office of the Auditor General says the allegations from Edison, which is based in Merritt, B.C., suggested MNP “was offering to write grant applications in exchange for a success fee while also deciding who received grant funding.”
MNP said at the time that the allegations were “false and misleading.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2024.
Certain solar farms will be banned on prime agricultural land in Ontario as the province expands energy production to meet demand in the coming decades, Energy Minister Stephen Lecce said Wednesday.
Ontario is looking to add some 5,000 megawatts of energy to the grid, with Lecce directing the Independent Electricity System Operator to secure “technology agnostic” energy resources. That means the province will use a mix of natural gas, hydroelectric, renewables, nuclear and biomass energy sources, he said.
But the province is making efforts to protect key agricultural areas in the process, the minister said.
Ground-mounted solar panels will be prohibited on prime agricultural farmland, said Lecce, who pledged the province would “never misuse” those lands.
“Our farmers need more energy more than ever,” Lecce said.
“They need access to to affordable energy and so we made a commitment to work with them on a policy that ultimately will respect prime agricultural land.”
Other energy products being considered on prime agricultural land will now require an impact assessment before proceeding.
The province is also giving power to municipalities to decide if they want a particular energy project.
“Long gone are the days where Queen’s Park imposes projects on unwilling communities, undermining those agricultural areas,” Lecce said.
The news is welcome to farmers, said Drew Spoelstra, the president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
“The new energy procurement framework is a major step forward for Ontario,” he said.
“Reliable and affordable energy is incredibly important to the growth of the Ontario economy, including food production, food processing and the agri-food sector.”
Farmers and Premier Doug Ford’s government have had an up-and-down relationship in recent years in light of the Greenbelt scandal.
The province had said they were going to build 50,000 homes on the protected Greenbelt, which includes prime agricultural land. But several investigations by provincial bodies found the process was flawed as it favoured some developers with ties to the government over others.
Farmers did not like the possible encroachment onto farmland and joined the chorus to denounce the Greenbelt move. Last summer, amid mounting public pressure to reverse course, Ford walked back those Greenbelt plans.
Lecce’s announcement Wednesday comes as the province’s electricity demand is expected to grow by about two per cent each year, although that could be even higher depending on electrification within the broader economy.
The IESO has said the province will need at least 60 per cent more energy by 2050.
Ontario has also recently been adding electricity storage projects, with an eye to about 2,500 megawatts, and the IESO said the province’s emerging battery fleet will pair well with wind and solar, so that the power generated by those methods can be stored and injected into the grid when needed.
Ford cancelled 750 renewable energy contracts shortly after his Progressive Conservatives formed government in 2018, after the former Liberal government faced widespread anger over the long-term contracts with clean power producers at above-market rates.
The province is also moving ahead with nuclear energy expansion, including seeking to refurbish units at the Pickering nuclear plant, build small modular reactors at the Darlington nuclear plant and exploring a new, large-scale plant at Bruce Power.
In 2021, the electricity system was 94 per cent emissions free, but that is now down to 87 per cent as it uses natural gas to meet demand.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2024.
In the lead-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, former President Donald Trump has been vocal in his criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris, labeling her as a far-left politician and questioning her competence. His derogatory remarks, including calling her “Comrade Kamala” and questioning her identity, are part of a broader strategy to undermine her credibility.
However, Harris used her Democratic National Convention (DNC) speech to counter these attacks effectively. In a 40-minute address, she dismantled Trump’s caricature by showcasing her experience, values, and policy priorities. Harris presented herself as a pragmatic leader with a strong background in law enforcement, emphasizing her work as a prosecutor and attorney general. She focused on unifying issues like protecting abortion rights, Social Security, and Medicare, while also stressing her commitment to national security and middle-class tax relief.
Harris also addressed potential vulnerabilities, such as her background and identity, by sharing personal stories that highlighted her American values and deep patriotism. This approach was aimed at making her relatable to a broader audience, countering Trump’s portrayal of her as disconnected from ordinary Americans.
The speech not only fortified her position within the Democratic Party but also presented a formidable challenge to Trump. By blending offensive and defensive strategies in her speech, Harris demonstrated her capability to handle the intense scrutiny and attacks that come with a high-profile campaign. As the election approaches, both Trump and his campaign team are likely recalibrating their strategies in response to Harris’ effective performance.
