IN the last several elections, we have seen a tide, wave or surge of younger people not just running for office but also winning contests.
When, for the longest time, younger people holding offices were considered as exceptions, this trend is fast becoming more of a rule, unwritten, but more real than merely desired.
Whether or not this inclination, propensity and development will continue in 2016, nobody really knows for sure. In fact, for all we know, voters really never make or base their choices on age, but on countless other things. Or, maybe they do, but not exclusively, like it is just one of the factors that they consider when they make their decisions, or when others make the decisions for them.
Be that as it may, it will immediately be observed that the political landscape in the country has changed in recent time. Never mind that the children of those who have already maximized their term limits were mostly the ones who took over the posts of their parents or relatives. The truth remains that, without a doubt, our public officials are getting younger than what they used to be.
This is not to say that this is good. This is not to say that this is bad. This is just to state a reality that can no longer be denied and must already be recognized.
At the end of the day, really, it may never be age that dictates the purity of the intention, the quality of the service or the result of any action. Or could it be the principal, primary or primordial reason, though not scientifically proven, why younger people say what they say and do not say, and do what they do and do not do?
In any case, if we take a look at the ages of our Presidents when they assumed office, at least beginning in 1986 or since about 30 years ago, we will notice that three out of the five were only in their 50’s.
And, if we take a look at the present composition of the Senate, we will notice that, when these incumbent Senators got elected for the first time, about a third of them were only in their 40’s. Actually, at present, almost half of them are still in their 40’s.
The long and short of all these numbers show that, while there are still a lot of older people running the show, younger people have significantly taken major roles and no longer just front acts, intermissions or fillers.
Admittedly, the older generation possesses the wisdom of experience, earned from lessons learned, acquired from multiple trials and multiple errors, gained from dreams made and dreams broken and dreams that never die.
Admittedly, too, the younger generation possesses the energy, enthusiasm and savvy that is essential, necessary and indispensable in addressing the challenges that the future is imposing upon us all. They have less experience, though, but not automatically less wisdom. But they have certainly less baggage, or excess baggage for that matter, unlike those who have been there, done that, and have in one way or the other through all the years may have committed sins, faults and acts that may not be illegal but are definitely immoral.
Anyway, the 2016 elections is less than a year from now. Whether or not age will be material or immaterial, one can only guess. But it would be interesting to see if we will fast forward to whatever the Next Age is called or rewind to the Jurassic World.
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