By Jessica Kelso
Elm Staff Writer
The phrase “age is just a number” is often used when one partakes in an activity that contradicts the stereotypes of their age — for example, when an elderly woman joins a community sports team or when someone from the younger generation seeks to prove their maturity to those around them.
However, the mental and physical maturities and constraints that come with aging contribute to the social perceptions of whether or not a person should be placed in a position of power or access the privileges provided to those outside of the socially accepted age range for various activities.
It can be largely agreed upon that toddlers and young children should not be relied upon to make decisions with significant impact on those around them. Given their flighty nature, inability to fully articulate their thoughts and general dysregulated emotional capacity, it is not unreasonable to prohibit them from taking on their own care and the care of others.
At what age should this regulation be reinstated? Is it reasonable to suggest that those older than a certain age are unfit to hold positions of power in the modern world? According to Apple Newsroom, Al Gore has reached the age maximum for serving on Apple’s Board of Directors.
This longstanding policy prevents individuals over the age of 75 from being reelected to the Board, resulting in Gore’s retirement after over 20 years of contribution to Apple.
James Bell, elected to the board in 2015, also faces retirement this year after reaching 75.
As a billion-dollar, multinational technology corporation, Apple appears to set the standard for new and innovative technology in peoples’ lives. Their products range from the standard iPhone, to Mac computers, to other day-to-day accessories like the Apple watch.
With its international reach, Apple has the capacity to influence communities across the globe. It is a well-known and highly regarded corporation, and is one of the few that holds its members of power to an age maximum.
The question of whether positions of power should have age maximums is particularly popular within the political world.
The Constitution famously sets age minimums for elected officials, yet there is no mention of an age maximum, allowing individuals with ages potentially ranging from 25 to more than 90 to make decisions for the country as a whole. Yet according to Pew Research Center, “82% of Republicans and 76% of Democrats support putting a maximum age limit in place for elected officials in Washington, D.C.”
Though there are discrepancies among communities over what age this maximum should be, the general consensus is that the age of political officials should be capped.
With the 2024 presidential election approaching, former President Donald Trump, age 77 and President Joe Biden, age 81, are two main competitors that the media has its eye on; especially because, if either are elected, they will break the record for the oldest American president.
But “only 3% of U.S. adults say it’s best for a president to be in their 70s or older,” writes John Gramlich, with Pew research.
Imposing an age limit to political positions would mean amending the Constitution, last amended in 1992 under George W. Bush, according to the National Constitution Center.
While this feat is not impossible, gaining the appropriate support within Congress — where many officials would be forced into retirement due to their age — poses a high level of difficulty, not to mention the discussion of when exactly an individual’s age becomes a detriment to their position.
According to Professor of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago S. Jay Olshansky for NPR, “there’s no question that the older we get, the higher the risk of things going wrong. But there’s plenty of people that make it out to older ages perfectly healthy in mind and body… And I don’t know how you would actually put some sort of age barometer. How would you determine what the proper number is?”
It seems in the modern age, while imposing an age limit on political officials is the socially popular decision, following through with this alteration after over 200 years of a government that is not restricted by age, will take a great deal of influence as well as social and scientific support.
By imposing a political age limit, the United States would be forced to adjust their expectations of presidency, as having leaders more closely related in age to the majority of citizens in the country would present new perspectives on how to approach more radical political issues.
This would greatly benefit the country, as the current and previous presidents’ ages greatly differed from the majority of voting Americans and contradicted their role by imposing laws and regulations for which they likely would not experience the aftereffects.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Photo caption: President Joe Biden is the United States’ oldest president to date.