Why We Need Young People To Run the Country--And Why I'm Voting for Bernie Anyway

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

Young people are badly underrepresented in the U.S. government. The average age of Senators is currently 63, a full 25 years older than the median U.S. resident. In the House, it’s 58. The four leading presidential contenders, including Trump, are all in their 70s. Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972—he has been one of the planet’s most powerful people for nearly half a century, longer than most have been alive.
Politics is often construed as noble public service, but it is also a tremendous privilege. Federal officeholders wield power over not only U.S. voters but also many who have no say in our elections, including residents of other countries and those under 18. In fact, climate change, nuclear war and environmental pollution have the potential to affect all life on this planet for centuries if not millennia to come...

Despite high-profile successes such as the victory of Ocasio-Cortez (age 30) over Joe Crowley (age 57), most Congressional incumbents can rest relatively easy, with well above an 80% likelihood of reelection. What we get is an insulated class of professional politicians, propped up by a relatively wealthy and old donor class. As Astra Taylor argues in the New York Times, structural obstacles from age limits to economic precarity to the Senate’s rural-state bias hinder young people (who disproportionately live in cities) from entering politics...

All of this suggests that “passing the torch” to a younger, more diverse suite of left politicians will need to happen sooner than later.
It is to his credit that Sanders is doing this, both directly and indirectly. The organization that came out of his 2016 campaign, Our Revolution, is actively working to build up new progressive leadership at every level of government. And many of the young people mobilized by that campaign have gone on to hold office, from Ocasio-Cortez to socialist Chicago alderman Andre Vasquez (now 40). Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn., age 38), too, says she was inspired to run for Congress by the Sanders campaign.

To read more:

https://inthesetimes.com/article/22135/age-presidency-young-people-bernie-sanders-aoc-climate

[MrsCoffee]

1. Lol.

[guillaumeb]

4. Thank you for the analysis.

Excellent points.

[MrsCoffee]

7. I can only laugh at some of the crazy shit people say.

We need young people to run the country, so elect Bernie.

When Bernie is polling in third place, he is winning.

Bernie had a heart attack, now he is stronger and better.

What else can I do but laugh?

[guillaumeb]

8. Me as well. eom

[MineralMan]

2. Nice bunch of clickbait ads at the bottom of the page

at your link.

[guillaumeb]

3. Did you have time to read article,

or did you skip to the ads?

The article takes a few minutes to read, so you might wish to read it after checking out the ads.

[MineralMan]

9. Yes, I did. That's how I got to the bottom of the page.

I clicked none of the ads. I don't do clickbait. Ever. However, I do tend to discount the importance of sites that rely on tons of clickbait ads to raise money. It's, you know, tacky.

[floppyboo]

23. clickbait ads are less important than Haliburton ads? hm

You know, you only get one kind of news if there are no ads: ads burried in news.
Blogs etc. (you know what I mean) get coverage from their friends and neighbours, but unfortunately today, independent news seems to rely on random click bait.
Maybe net neutrality could help the indies? The telecom act certainly didn't.

[Sherman A1]

5. I completely agree the which is why

I’m supporting Andrew Yang.

[guillaumeb]

6. Yang has some interesting ideas. eom

[redqueen]

12. +1

[treestar]

10. Up to the voters

Geez we do not need inexperienced over experienced. Impulsivity not needed either though that does affect the current old president but generally wears off with time.

[guillaumeb]

11. What we need are programs, and politicians,

that recognize the nature of the problems.

As one example, in my view the problems associated with the US healthcare system are inseparable from the fact that in the US system, profit comes first. So any supposed solutions that do not recognize this are not really solutions.

And, again in my view, the problem with the US system of taxation is that the rich are far too lightly taxed, as are speculative investment earnings.

[Act_of_Reparation]

22. Institutional roadblocks.

Like the unfounded and yet widely accepted assumption young people are impulsive while old people are experienced.

[Uncle Joe]

13. This is an excellent read.

Thanks for the thread guillaumeb.

[guillaumeb]

14. I hope the horrible click bait ads did not bother you.

Sanders and Warren represent systemic change.

[Uncle Joe]

17. This is one of my favorite parts from Bernie's speeches in the OP

(snip)

We may have seen a glimpse of the future in New York this October, where Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez shared a stage before an audience of 26,000.

“Are you willing to fight for young people drowning in student debt, even if you are not?” Sanders asked to close his speech. “Are you willing to fight for a future for generations of people who have not yet even been born, but are entitled to live on a planet that is healthy and habitable? Because if you are willing to do that, if you are willing to love, if you are willing to fight for a government of compassion and justice and decency … [then] together we will transform this country.”

(snip)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/22135/age-presidency-young-people-bernie-sanders-aoc-climate

When that kind of cultural transformation takes place, this nation will truly rock!

[guillaumeb]

18. Agreed. It is called empathy, and compassion.

AOC fought Amazon, and won. Yet some, even here, defend Amazon because it is convenient to them personally. We need to convince people that an injury to one is truly an injury to all.

[The Valley Below]

15. BeCaUsE, yOu KnOw!

[guillaumeb]

16. Good analysis. eom

[The Valley Below]

19. Better than the one in the OP.

[guillaumeb]

20. Feel free to present your own.

Or refute specifics from the author's analysis if you wish.

[The Valley Below]

21. I have.

[IronLionZion]

24. Biden and Sanders were young when they started their political careers

our party needs more liberals of all types to run for office everywhere. We need to build up more widespread support for our party in more states, and build up a pipeline of local candidates to run for higher offices.

Demographics have shifted in a way that many previously red or blue states have gotten more competitive or switched.