I really have to wonder sometimes where people's heads are at. I'm beginning to think the vast majority of people are cruise controlling their way through their lives, leaving most of their thinking to our government. It's both frightening and discouraging that, as our country limps along, there are so many people who can't formulate linear thought processes in order to make worldview decisions. Learned helplessness perhaps? Or just paralyzing fear. Whatever the reason, older generations are showing the younger generations how in the face of crisis, Americans are great at doing nothing, cutting off their noses to spite their faces or proving Einstein's quote (the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results) to be true.
Case in point: the recent Congressional election in Michigan's 15th district. They re-elected incumbent John Dingell. And he is quite the incumbent. Dingell is 84 years old, he has been in Congress since 1955. Let that marinade for a moment. And then, for those of you who are old enough, reflect on everything politically and socially that has transpired since 1955 in this country. The revolutions that have rocked our population, the wars, the JFK and MLK assassinations, the moon landing, the civil rights movement, the end of the Soviet Union, the technology boom. And then ask yourself how someone who is clearly ravaged by age can aggressively move his constituents through the 21st century?
And that is what I find most disturbing about the voting population of Congressional district 15 in Michigan. That they are so impaired and fearful of the reality bearing down on all of us like a train that they cling to a man who is unbelievably out of date. I have deep reservations about 84 year olds driving, I certainly wouldn't want them making my political decisions for me in Washington. Would America elect an 84 year old president? And how dangerous would that be?
As intelligent and wise as Abraham Lincoln was as a president, even if we had the ability to somehow magically zap him into power in today's world, I would be against it. Yes his morals and ethics were admirable but he'd lack the 21st century savvy that the job requires for our country today. 84 year olds like Dingell have long since retired from their respective careers, their minds aren't in any condition to tackle Washington decisions. And they also lack future perspective. It is reckless and dangerous to the welfare of the American people to put geriatrics in charge of designing and revolutionizing our health care and Social Security systems when many of them won't be around for even a decade of that time. What's their motivation for making sure the systems benefit future generations and not just the ones using the system currently? The answer is none.
At a time when Michigan desperately needs change, the people of the 15th district have decided someone with a 1955 perspective is good enough for them.
