OPINION:
At some point, rational older adults realize the future is no longer about them, but rather about the generations that follow. And that is a good thing, because these accomplished younger men and women have the energy, curiosity, intellect and willingness to question long-standing traditions and remove or build on them, as progress requires.
It is this cohort that creates an emerging future that eventually lifts up billions worldwide. Think Clara Barton and the American Red Cross, Susan B. Anthony and women’s rights, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement, John F. Kennedy and the moon, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and numerous other innovators and risk takers.
Absent such luminaries, we end up with disastrous, protectionist ideas and tools that diminish rather than brighten and lift. Think Washington politicians. Consider President Biden, 79, former President Donald Trump, 76, Sen. Chuck Schumer, 71, Sen. Mitch McConnell, 80, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 82, Dr. Anthony Fauci, 81, and the average age of members of Congress, 64. Such long reigns may make for familiarity and comfort to some power holders, but these people are definitely not the ones to lead America to a better future.
H. LEE LAPOLE
Loveland, Ohio
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