Discussion

An Oligarchy of Old People

recursivedoubts: old vs young (as with so many other social cleavages) is real, to an extent, but nothing compared to the wealth oligarchy vs. the rest of us. These cleavages are pushed intentionally to divide and conquer.poor (and even moderately wealthy) old people aren't the enemy.

CodingJeebus: True, but there's an inextricable link between life expectancy and wealth that can't be ignored and a very strong positive correlation documented between the two. Poor old people aren't the enemy as they never had power to begin with. Wealthy old people, on the other hand, represent one of the most regressive voting blocs in American politics, and have voted largely to expand the power of the wealthy.

bryanlarsen: Once the boomers die off, things will get even worse. Thiel and Musk aren't Boomers, but they're the Gen X's with the power.We must have an enemy. Both sides of the aisle have chosen particularly stupidly IMO. The left has chosen Boomers and the right have chosen immigrants and refugees.

alphawhisky: No war but the class war.

readthenotes1: "Joe Biden, did not want to admit his senescence. "No, not just Joe. There were a lot of younger people who did not want to confess Joe biden's state because it would reduce their power and a lot of them were under 65.

CodingJeebus: True, but there were also many younger people who never wanted him to run in the first place. One of the major downsides of the two-party system is that the major parties maintain a duopoly of power, significantly stifling alternative movements (like the Sanders progressives) from making major inroads politically even though public support is widespread. This is a systemic flaw in American politics.

alphawhisky: This is an intentional feature of modern American politics. It's not what the founding fathers intended, but if you think that gerrymandering, lobbying, and 2 party dominance don't benefit those who currently hold power in the US you're crazy.