Elected from the Aged

Scott M. Barnes

Arizona State University

 As the years pass the way we live change our lifestyles, our diets, and so on, but a thing

that never seems to change would be our government more specifically those who run it and

laws that seem come with it. Those who are elected into the house of representatives serve for

two years and those in the senate serve for a total six and of course the president serves for a

whopping four years, but for a difference between the president and the other two offices is

that the president has a limit of how many time he/she can be elected which is two time while

both the senate and the house of representatives have an unlimited amount of chances to be

re-elected into office. Also it is a sad truth in America that the young adult population of

America have a very low on average in the voting polls for any reason, while those who are

older then the age of 50 (baby boomers) are constantly at voting polls making their voices

heard and keeping what they believe alive which I wont say is a bad thing but it is a concern of

mine that the current generation refuse to vote as a way to rebel from the government but

what is really going on is that with that rebellion allows those who are aged to a degree to

continue to keep their views intact but the sad truth of it all is those senior citizens that are

continually voting shouldn’t be since it isn’t their future that is getting voting on but ours and

with how fast the world is changing so should we. Out with the old and in with the new.

Through the past few days I have completed at the Arizona state university downtown

campus and I asked three questions; first if they vote and second what they think about their

government and those who run it and thirdly the view on the elderly voting. For the two days I

surveyed students 100 students (all students asked were 19 years or older), out the hundred

students 30 of them said they do not vote even some to say voting is a way to keep Americans

enslaved to the 1% or something along those lines, out of the 70 who said they did vote 36 of
them even though I vote it still doesn’t make a difference in the outcome. The 66 in the

previous sentences chose not to speak on their political views or what they think about those

running it. The final 34 is where all questions were answered, all 34 chose to vote for the

betterment of the country or to try to help the country prosper with new ideas and new

electives. After the conclusion of the survey I had two students who I surveyed met me to give

me more on their views. One student felt that there isn’t any crime with senior citizens voting

or that the same people are constantly being re-elected into office he/she stated that “they are

the most experienced in the country when it having to run the country and help those live in it

thrive”. As expected the second student saw the complete opposite, “those in office are in

office for a reason yes, but if they continue to be elected and elected over and over again it will

never allow those who are trying to become the new face of the country practice or at least feel

how it is to be someone who has some of the biggest responsibilities in the country”. He/She

then went on to go into detail that the president is just the front man of the USA, but never

really does anything truly important that the senate and house of representatives really do run

the country. To state something from earlier out of all the students who responded to the

question on if elderly people should vote or not (which was 34) All but 5 said that they

shouldn’t passed a certain age, with some even saying that it isn’t their future and that their

lives are coming to a close and it shouldn’t really matter what they think, which may seem

somewhat harsh but understandable when thinking that those born years ago usually don’t

change there point of views on things.

 I have also started to watch a channel with the name of C-SPAN, which airs most the

public affairs with the federal government. Just to begin watching it is a challenge with it being

so straight forward and no joy in anyone’s face which I understand it is the government it isn’t

anything to take lightly. As the broadcast continues and drags on for at least an hour I give up

and turn it off, I just couldn’t take it anymore, which brings me to think why there aren’t very

young men and women in legislation we aren’t very mature for it. Yet, the one hour that I did

watch I noticed a few things, for starters the majority of the people in the room of the

broadcast were old Caucasian men, also you can see if you looked very closely that a few of the

them were actually asleep or at least appeared to be (Shill, S 2009). Which brought me to

another conclusion it shouldn’t matter who is there since these older men and women seemed

to hate it there as well, but they know they must be there.

As I was scanning through the internet looking for something to catch my eye and I did

stumble upon a meme that makes no sense with its picture (located below) it had a puffin with

the phrase “you should stop having the right to vote aged 65 leave the decision making to those

who will have to live with it”. Let that last part sink in “leave the decision making to those who

have to live it” as of 2015 the average age of death in the united states is 78.7 years and I am

only 20 I have on average another 50-60 years before I kick the bucket compared to the 13 to

those aged 65. I do understand it is just an estimate for both parties but those who are above a

certain age are more likely to get sick due to the immune system weakening which in turn may

cause other things to come up and may cause the 13 years to come down a few pegs and

maybe less then 10. I understand they have the right to vote and all power to them but as the
leading statement in the paper if times are changing then those apart must adapt to the

change.

Finally, I have read several parts of a philosophy and public affairs paper written by

Belgian philosopher Philippe Van Parijs simply titled “The Disfranchisement of the Elderly”. In

his opening statement he wrote on an NEW REPUBLICAN article from 1970 and I quote "There

are simply too many senile voters and their number is growing. The vote should not be a

privilege in perpetuity, guaranteed by minimal physical survival, but a share in the continuing

fate of the political community, both in its benefits and its risks. The old, having no future, are

dangerously free from the consequences of their own political acts, and it makes no sense to

allow the vote to someone who is actuarially unlikely to survive, and pay the bills for, the

politician or party he may help elect. [...] I would advocate that all persons lose the vote at

retirement or age 70, whichever is earlier." (Stewart 1970: 22). The statement itself is from well

over 50 years ago and restated again in Phillipe’s article 20 years ago, to begin my point the

idea of a maximum voting age ahs been around for decades. The elderly have a power when it

comes to politics due to the vast majority of the elderly and when it comes to voting their

power is used to a full extent, several reason maybe to return to the old way in which they grew

up in which in turn imposing their values or even just to benefit their final short term goals

which is retirement, the elderly may be trying increase their SSCs (social security) for the

remainder of their day which can be a different argument by itself.

To believe I would want any rights taken away from anyone is tough to believe because I

don’t, I want everyone to be equal in all ways and to vote is not only our civic duty it is a right

and everyone deserves them. The elderly aren’t trying to cause harm to any of us they are just
trying to continue what they have been doing years and years before I was even born. I do still

believe the age for voting should be capped off at between the ages of 60-70 to provide a type

of intergenerational justice for the generations to come. These opinions and arguments can be

brought up in any political ran meeting in the near future.

 Reference Page

Reynolds, S. & Rosenberg, M. (Writers), & Shill, S. (Director). (2009). The Getaway

[Television series episode]. In S. Colleton, J. Goldwyn & J. Manos (Executive producers), Dexter.

New York, NY: Showtime Networks

Parijs, P. V. (1998). The Disfranchisement of the Elderly, and Other Attempts to Secure

Intergenerational Justice. Philosophy Public Affairs,27(4), 292-333. doi:10.1111/j.1088-

4963.1998.tb00072.x

Imgur. (2014, October 15). If we have bottom age limit I don't see why we should be so

opposed to the idea of a top age limit. Retrieved April 19, 2018, from

https://imgur.com/gallery/TQFxFOz