The Gerontocracy that is America

Gerontocracy

[ jer-uhn-tok-ruh-see, jeer- ]

Noun, plural

1. a governing body consisting of old people.
2. a state or government in which old people rule.

Does this sound familiar to you? When we look at the faces who govern our country, we see people who are quadruple our age. The two candidates who are currently running for office are 74 and 77 years old. “The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 116th Congress was 57.6 years; of Senators, 62.9 years. “If you calculate the median age of the president, the speaker of the House, the majority leader of the Senate, and the three Democrats leading in the presidential polls for 2020, the median age is 77. The average age of an American you may ask? 37.9 years old. So why does our government reflect a population that is no longer the largest, or most profitable?

First, many senators and congressmen and woman hold their seats for many years, with support from donors, and incumbent leaders. These are just a few barriers in the fight to put younger people in these positions of power. The length of these terms held by incumbent leaders also plays a key role in the gerontocracy that is America. “The average length of service for Representatives at the beginning of the 116^th Congress was 8.6 years (4.3 House terms); for Senators, 10.1 years (1.7 Senate terms).” According to senate.gov, one of the longest terms a senator has ever run was 51 years, 5 months and 26 days.

Secondly, voter turnout for old people has historically been much higher than for younger generations. In 2016, for instance, 71 percent of eligible elderly voters reported to the Census that they voted. For other age cohorts, the turnout percentages were 67 percent (aged 45-64), 59 percent (aged 30-44) and 46 percent (aged 18-29).

The age of our representatives also reflects their stance on legislation. Many tech giants are being held accountable for their monopolies on the market, however we have old people who are statistically not the most technologically sound making decisions that affect millions of smart phone using Americans. Climate change is one of the greatest concerns for millennials and Gen Z but some boomers still do not believe in the science behind it.

Times are changing however, slowly but surely. One of the most famous elected Congress women is Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, or AOC, who led a grassroots campaign meaning she only accepted donations from the people. Many young people love her ability to connect to millennials and Generation Z. She recently appeared in a twitch live stream playing a popular game called Among Us and uses social media as a great way to reach out and educate younger constituents. As we as a generation grow up, I hope to see young bright diverse faces make up the government and instill change for our generation and those to come.