Michael Tae Sweeney: Ageism is hiring a 25 year old instead of a better qualified 55 year old. It's not "ageism" to say that an 81 year old or a 78 year old might not be able to handle the world's most demanding job.

Ageism is hiring a 25 year old instead of a better qualified 55 year old. It's not "ageism" to say that an 81 year old or a 78 year old might not be able to handle the world's most demanding job.

I guess I sound like a reactionary when I say this but there is a biological reality that people eventually get slower and lose energy as they get older and even more eventually they will die. This is reality! Old people will die sooner than younger people will!

People age differently and "peak" at different times. Deng Xiaoping was leading a country with a billion people quite capably at 86 years old even though he was almost totally deaf and rapidly losing his eyesight by the time he retired. bsky.app/profile/yazi...

That same person maintained that 65 is peak professional & intellectual prime and that it's downhill from there.

Some of us peaked at 17 and it's def been all down hill from there.

This is true - and that opinion was just one person I know - but it is a perspective.

There’s generally been such a lack of nuance about Biden’s age. From he’s a victim of ageism, to he has dementia. Which usually means the person saying it doesn’t interact with anyone over 60.

Like how Trump is just randomly ending up off on the moon, while Biden seems to be doing quite well.

Giuseppe Verdi wrote his two greatest - and most musically advanced operas - at 74 ("Otello") and 80 ("Falstaff.")

It’s ageist to judge an individual based on that generality. But it’s not a shock if an 80 year old struggles to do two extremely taxing jobs at once (being president and running for president).

I see we have another Deng-head in the room 😎

I am a martial artist in my 40s. When there are competitions for martial arts, they have different categories for people in their 40s and over. That is not agesit. That is reality. That being said, if Biden wins, I am sure he will resign and let Kamala take over. There is a plan B.

But am I supposed to prefer Biden in his prime? Unless he is accidentally going to support a national abortion ban he can be as old as he wants

Some of them should really pick up the pace.

They die a whole lot easier, which is what worries me. Also that we could end up with redoing the Reagan 2nd term, where nobody's being honest that the president no longer reliably knows wtf is going on - I don't trust the GOP, period, but I'm not sure I trust Dem leadership on it either.

its one thing to be a recationary, and another thing to, you know, actually REACT when faced with a dire and time-sensitive situation.

It’s not ageism ‘Trump isn’t much younger’ cuts both ways . Biden looked bad /for his age/ We don’t have to grade on a curve.

Tbh even the ableism stuff they pushed abou his stutter was bs Like here’s Joe in his 50’s. youtu.be/JmhjMLqHUUs?...

Joseph Biden - NATO Expansion - Speech at the Atlantic Council of the U.S. - Washington. D.C. 1997youtu.be Joseph Biden - U.S. Senator [D] DelawareHis views of the NATO Expansion and what it could mean for the future of foreign diplomacyAtlantic Council of the U.S...

Stutters take energy to control, so it’s not really surprising if someone has less ability to control one as they age. It’s still a communication issue, not a cognition issue. (But communication is very important for politics.)

Biden looked bad because he had no idea how to respond to a Gish Gallop, which is what was doing: throwing out an unending stream of bullshit and nonsequiturs as fast as he can. The only real response you can give to that is to openly mock the galloper. And Biden doesn't do that easily.

Tbh I think he did really well with the actual content. As evidenced by there not being really any soundbites of gaffs getting circulated. It’s just no one expected the visuals to be this bad

There's no way someone didn't prep him for a debate like this by going up against a practice opponent that's thoroughly versed in gishgallop. GG is Trump's bread and butter

*On average*

Entropist!

That same person maintained that 65 is peak professional & intellectual prime and that it's downhill from there.

I'm pushing 50 and try to keep up to date with everything going on in the world at a reasonably high level. I feel my understanding of tge world and culture slipping away as I get older. I'm just a random person and that still takes an enormous amount of effort nevermind being president.

I don't disagree. But the Economist's image of a walker emblazoned with the Presidential Seal and the headline "No Way to Run a Country" is a little more than conceding biological reality.

From a nominally conservative mag that probably gets home-delivered to the king's palace as it had to his ninety year old queen mum before him?

In fact, it's downright dishonest of Michael to frame the Economist's actions in this manner.

Yeah - I think the counterpoint to that is that it's worth distinguishing what DOES limit someone's ability to do the job, and what just looks like an old person being old.

Like the Deng example; being hard of hearing is not a dealbreaker for a head of state, but it's going to make a lot of people think LOOK AT THAT OLD PERSON, which I'd put in the "ageism" bucket

There is probably a line somewhere, but it’s hard to define for me. Like discussing how someone’s age effects their ability to perform a job is different than mocking someone for it, but it’s rarely that simple in practice

Limits to that when the state of their conditions are being hidden from you.

We could benefit from a leader with 120 years' worth of experience but there are just a few biological problems with that.

I’ve been voting for President Plesiasaurus for years but everyone thinks I’m the crazy one

Putting on my 'Wheezy for Pleezy!' campaign button

Lmao where do I donate?

Hi. I guess you are joking about donating but it seems this scammer doesn't know. It's an impersonator, maybe it's in your DM giving you payment details. Be careful.

In 2015 I asked someone I deeply respect (attorney & CPA) who she would vote for. She said, "neither. They are both too old. They're my age I ought to know". Again, in 2015.

I remember my grandfather commenting on this in 1984. He was around the same age as Reagan and said that he wouldn’t have the energy to do the job at that age.

It’s interesting how many old people like my 82 year old mother get how much harder aging is than it often seems for younger people.

Yes it is ageism if you’re using age as a discriminating criterion. There’s no dressing that up prettily.

federal government is structurally ageist against young people which is why the average Senator is 64 years old. pointing out the president is benefiting from the embedded bias is in fact the opposite of ageism 😃

Untrue. The reason why older people get into positions of power in this country isn't because of structural bias... It is simply because far more old people vote than young people. So... Want to be the first person in the crusade to fix that? I'd love to see a lot more young people vote.

The specific age and identity of a candidate is decided well before average voters ever see those names on the ballots. This has nothing to do with how older people vote, but a lot to do with how party organizations think older people will vote.

And money. It can take a lot of bucks to run for Congress, and you can bring it yourself or you can know a lot of people who can raise money for you (both favor people with more time, but there are exceptions). https://ballotpedia.org/Net_worth_of_United_States_Senators_and_Representatives

Anybody who has a parent who is 80+ has seen this up close. The presidency is grueling, and four years is a long time at that age.

My dad is 79, and has absolutely energy to do anything, and he's frustrated as to why. My mom is 77, and she's somehow in better health in a lot of ways, but she would pretty quickly loose steam too.

Grandfather Biden is now too old, so we must give his job to a shit-flinging, psychopathic orange terror-monkey.

…who is three whole years younger

True. Some of the reporting is ageist such as the cover of The Economist which has a walker on the cover of their magazine, I think that crosses the line and is offensive to those who may have a disability.

I think the “might” and saying something in abstract is “more likely” is fine. But it is profoundly ageist to completely ignore someone’s professional record in favor of trying to read pseudo-medical tea leaves from their speaking patterns

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