The Wisdom Caucus
ESSAY: Perhaps it's time for the septuagenarians & octogenarians in Congress to turn over their leadership positions to younger, more progressive, more forward-looking members.
It strikes me as troubling that 67% of the senators in Congress are over the age of 6o. 44% of the members of the House of Representatives are 6o or older. That, according to a tally by Adam Stone of FiscalNote.
Now, I am not an agist. As a 76-year-old Baby Boomer I understand that a substantial swath of America’s aging population is still in control of many of the institutions of power. They are endowed with learned experiences and earned insights.
But, I also understand that in the 21st century, technology has and will fundamentally make those experiences and insights less relevant, less valuable, less powerful.
Put aside, for the moment, the existential threats we are facing from encroaching tyranny, economic warfare, environmental collapse and uncontrolled diseases. The consequences of one or more of these might actually kill us all.
For this essay, though, I am concerned about current political leadership in uncertain, unpredictable & unprecedented times. Too many of our elected leaders are past their ‘best use by’ dates.
The Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is 74 years old. Democratic Senate Whip Dick Durbin is 80. The third most senior in Democratic Senate leadership is Amy Klobuchar, who is 64.
Other elderly members of Senate Democratic leadership are Bernie Sanders (83), Elizabeth Warren (75) & Mark Warner (70). I like all of them. They have been wise, outspoken and effective.
United States Senate: Leadership & Officers
And these are the Democratic septuagenarians in the Senate: John Hickenlooper, Richard Bloomenthal, Mazie Hirona, Ed Markey, Jeanne Shaheen, Roy Wyden, Jack Reed, Peter Welch & Patty Murray.
Many of these hold Senior Ranking Member positions on important Senate committees and on Democratic political strategy caucuses. These are all good, decent, thoughtful leaders.
As are the Senate Democrats in their sixties: Maria Cantwell, Tammy Baldwin, Tim Kaine, Jeff Merkley, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jacky Rosen, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hassan, Gary Peters, Tina Smith, Chris Van Hollen, Michael Bennett, Christopher Coons, Mark Kelley and Adam Schiff.
If they are doing a great job for you, by all mean, keep giving them your support, encouragement, donations and votes.
But, are these honestly the folks to lead us into the age of autonomous robotics, cyber crime, artificial intelligence, digital currency, intellectual property management, genetic enhancement, technology innovation, disruptive migration, drone warfare, social media manipulation, scientific leaps, medical breakthroughs and global upheaval?
The times they ain’t a-changin’. The times they have a-changed.
So, I am calling on ALL elected officials in their 70’s & 80’s to consider giving up your positions of power in favor of smart, accomplished, forward-thinking leaders. I know it goes against human nature to give up the esteem and influence that you rightfully earned. To that end, I am not suggesting you give up your hard-won seat at the table. Just the one you hold at the head of the table.
Let the stake-holders with the largest stakes sit atop the committees. Let the visionaries map the strategies for the future. Let the young parents pass the laws to protect themselves and their children. Let THIS generation be in control of THEIR lives and the lives of THEIR children, instead of YOUR lives and the lives of YOUR grand-children and great-grandchildren.
I propose you organize your aging and elderly Baby Boomer colleagues into The Wisdom Caucus. Use your earned knowledge, political and life experiences and battle lessons to offer insights and guidance to your younger colleagues. Give them the benefit of your institutional memory and foundational beliefs. Help them navigate through problems you may have already solved. Be wise. Be just. Be useful.
But, let them now steer the ship of state. They may have a better understanding of where that ship should be heading for themselves, this nation and the people of the world. They may be seeing horizons you can only imagine.
Who would and should work the hardest to bring about a better tomorrow? Those who are young enough, smart enough, brave enough and motivated enough to see it through. Be The Wisdom Caucus to help The New Guard make it so. Stick around, but step aside.
I believe we're going through a period of major change, not only in this country, but worldwide. I don't see how an aging leadership steeped in the 20th Century in going to be effective in a 21st Century that is methodically, and radically, reshaping the world and all the people in it. Top among those are climate, technology, and politics. We're going to have to decide, and soon, what kind of America we want to live in, and what values we want to instill, figure out how to not be totally overwhelmed by technology/media, and particularly if we still want and believe in constitutional government. And the idea that we can just wait it out is becoming more and more absurd.
The time of reckoning is upon us (and yes I'm going biblical here as in this is big time important and will be felt long after the vast majority of us are dead.)
To get through it, we need leadership that has a positive vision, understands what the world is becoming, and understands how to get us there. That's something the present gerontocracy lacks.
There is no shame in letting sharper, younger minds take the reins. The shame is believing the world can't function without you.
Excellent idea.