This Gerontocracy of ours

Dear friends,

Here’s is weird thought of mine which says that, may be it’s time we pay some special attention to the competence and enthusiasm of our leaders who in most cases are people who are quite clearly over aged and have past their prime…

No I’m not questioning everyone’s competence through out their career, but as the age takes over don’t we think that it affects us adversely to “perform” and that too at the helm of affairs??…If age is not a factor but the experience is then why on earth do the corporate CEOs retire after the retirement age? Quite clearly, they are the people who are supposed to be the people with “premium-most” caliber.. The workload also kind of matches with their age…It’s only negotiation & decision making businesses that mostly they are involved in…So what would make others think that they are not suitable for it? The “age factor”??? May be yes…and it’s because ageing also affects the jobs that’s less demanding physically….

More so, should be case with politicians..Isn’t it? But quite to the contrary, not only the fact that politics is the only profession in here that that doesn’t need any qualification, this is the only profession without any retirement age also.. Here it’s more of a rule rather than an exception to accept leaders above the age of 60 yrs.Boy!!! I don’t know why there shouldn’t be any dissent for that.

Don’t we think that after 60, our all-round ability decreases rather than increases? Also, after 80 isn’t some senility problem going to come naturally?..No no, I don’t want to know the secrets of the age-defying techniques that someone thinks useful…,but I am all for someone who doesn’t have to spend time and money on those techniques actually…Am I wrong in here?

Also it seems, that there is always a "Generation Gap" associated with the leaders and our countrymen….which is bound to come …So with all the issues about competence and senility at hand this “Generation Gap” becomes too much to be tolerated sometimes… Don’t you think? All we are left with is some “dadu-giri” it seems…This way of running the country where the seniority of paramount importance might remind any outsider of a “Family Business” where all the “dada-giri”s and “dadu-giri”s are supposed to be tolerated with awe and respect…But aren’t we paying too much price for it sometimes? What do you think??

Respectfully yours,
-Dev

"In a democracy dissent is an act of faith" - J William Fullbright