How often must we stumble before we understand our actions? Many people no longer delve into our living environment, merely following the loudest voices. Are we choosing the right leaders based on age, experience, and character? The situation in the USA raises questions about electing elderly leaders like Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Can younger candidates like Kamala Harris provide better leadership?
How many more times do we need to stumble before we understand what we are doing? Sometimes I quietly wonder if we want or can see everything around us and assess it in a healthy way. Or are we just following the loudest voices? Are we only following our instincts now, or do we think that others around us always have our best interests at heart?
Who are we following now?
I have noticed for a while that many people no longer delve into our living environment. Yes, we see if the “ordinary” person fits in with us, or if we are entertained on time by the “clowns” around us who keep us busy with various amusements. But how is our life going, and who could improve it?
Are we choosing the right representatives?
For example, when we choose a new leader, how do we do that? What do we look for before making the right choice? Does the age of that person matter, should they have sufficient life experience? Should it be an independent person? Should it be a man, or could it also be a woman, and why? I have been looking with suspicion at the situation in the United States of America for quite some time. Repeatedly over the past years. They have been electing retired individuals as their leaders for a long time. Candidates for the position must also be of impeccable character. The person in question should never have spoken a harsh word, and corruption or lies are completely unacceptable. This makes me think of the current leaders in America and their potential successors.
Do you have enough knowledge to choose at all?
Picture: Theodore Roosevelt President of the USA 1901 (EW Magazine)
A few days ago, the eighty-one-year-old current president Joe Biden indicated that he no longer wanted to continue in the elections because he could no longer express himself well during the current election race. Remember that this president was already seventy-six when he was elected president. Most companies in the world do not need a man of that age in their workforce. In the Netherlands, the retirement age is sixty-seven. Of course, some workaholics continue to work past that age because they think they are indispensable or because they need the money. But most people stop working when they are entitled to do so.
Do you want to exchange one retiree for another?
His opponent, until a few days ago, was the seventy-eight-year-old Donald Trump, who is still in the race. Also, a man who has long since reached retirement age. A man who made his money in a way that many have criticized over the years, by acquiring real estate in the Manhattan district of New York. A man who is certainly no stranger to the necessary malpractices with that real estate. A man who has even been convicted. I have my doubts, do you? And this man will also be eighty-four when his legal term as president ends. What is the average life expectancy for a man in the USA? According to insiders, it is 76.1 years. In 2020, it was still 77, so the age is decreasing. In other words, will Trump even make it to Inauguration Day? A state funeral is also not cheap these days!
Does the “new” presidential candidate have the right life experience?
Kamala Harris, a fifty-nine-year-old woman from California, is currently vice president behind the recently resigned Biden. Before this position, she was a senator from the state of California, and before that, a state attorney. Kamala is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. This is, of course, not a problem in the land of unlimited possibilities, but her age. Fortunately, others who were even younger preceded her, such as: Theodore Roosevelt at 42 years and 322 days, John F. Kennedy at 43 years and 236 days, Bill Clinton at 46 years and 154 days, Ulysses S. Grant at 46 years and 311 days, and in 2009 Barack Obama at 47 years and 169 days (EW Magazine). Fortunately, these were not the least in our history.
Can we look to the future with Kamala with peace of mind?
Perhaps the trend of high age in presidential elections will be discarded after these elections, but then Mrs. Harris will have to be elected on the upcoming election day. We could still have the misfortune that this lady dies prematurely, but she is likely to have more understanding of the questions and living conditions of her peers and might be more familiar with the current issues that concern the world population. A woman in the prime of life is what the world needs, don’t you think?
