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Maybe it was the way I worded my comment before, but I got downvoted for criticising that too many politicians are too old to still be in office. I got response from someone that age shouldn't matter if the person is competent.
Then it occurred to me that maybe it was boomers who downvoted me for hitting a nerve. And I should have responded that if there is minium required age to become POTUS, why shouldn't there be a maximum age?
That being said, it also occurred to me that there is ageism against younger people in politics. The voting age in many places do not want to be lowered as youths are told to be too immature to vote. But how come no one says old people are too old and senile to vote? I don't mean to go into old vs young people mudslinging, but old people have elected representatives that only benefit their own demographic and not for everyone in the country. One reason for the housing crisis is that old people elect politicians who do not want to build more affordable housing so as not to devalue their property.
Voting rights aren't handed out because of pragmatic reasons, but because of fundamental principals.You don't get to vote because you're able to make good decisions, you get to vote because you're a human citizen of a particular country and on that basis alone you get to vote. It would be very difficult to objectively determine who is able to make good decisions. And even it that were possible, it would be difficult to decide where to draw the line. Of course that children don't get to vote is completely inconsistent and the age that makes the difference is completely arbitrary. But to be honest, I'd much rather allow children of all ages to vote than restrict people beyond a certain age. Check out some Noam Chomsky interview of recent years, would it really be fair if such a bright mind was not allowed to vote?
Noam Chomsky is actually a really good example. Same with some practicing MDs I've known. Some of them work into their 80s or so as well. Why would we stupidly remove wisdom from our political set? That's just dumb, IMHO.
I think the problem is that the PFC is often not fully formed, on average, until 25. I still think people as young as 16 should be allowed to vote, though. However, on the other end, I don't think arbitrary years is worth anything (and will be increasingly worthless with time as medicine continues to change the game - imagine nootropics and life extension) - the important thing is mental acuity for the job, no matter the age. If someone wants to run for office and they are 250 (assuming for the moment life extension/age slowing/age reversal becomes everyday), I shouldn't care. What I should care about is their ability to do the job. Ideally, we'd even be able to screen out psychopaths and other troublesome traits, but give it time, I guess.
No you don't want that. That's one massive door to dictatorship if I ever saw one. Imagine the power of declining presidential candidates because you declare them troublesome.