It’s funny to see what brave guys are eager to fight for the right to be in the Oval Office. But who should not be funny is the Americans. In November, they have to choose their own president and hope that they will not go crazy.
From the US presidential race, 2020 seriously carries mothballs. Shortly after the election, the Democratic main candidate will celebrate his 78th birthday. Bernie Sanders will be 79 years old by then. Donald Trump is the youngest in this trio – he is only 73 years old. With this scenario, anecdotes about Brezhnev and his “I am old… I am very old… I am superstar” are involuntarily recalled. The Soviet nomenclature was indeed known for its retirees, but what happens to the United States?
Of course, the old age of the head of the White House did not bother Americans before. As you know, Ronald Reagan was safely re-elected for a second term at the age of 73 years. It may seem that US citizens are attracted by the wisdom of gray-haired old men and an impressive political experience. No matter how. One can hardly be called wise the one who on camera talks about how he blackmailed the president of another country, demanding the dismissal of the general prosecutor there.
The problem lies in the American ruling elites. For them, the president, who with one foot in the grave, is an excellent guarantee that the situation will not get out of control. A young proprietor of residence in the White House can cause trouble, especially if he wants to play by his own rules. There was one such young enthusiast in US history, John F. Kennedy. In secret, he corresponded with Khrushchev, without approval, announced the readiness of the United States to end the Cold War and signed an agreement with the Soviet Union to reduce nuclear tests. His fate is well known to all.
With old people like Biden or the same Trump, this will not happen. Why? American oligarchic elites have one important feature: the rules are extremely important to them. They must obey everyone who plays in the big leagues. Simply put, in the confrontation between the two groups from the American oligarchy, no one will arrange a massacre or raiding. To do this, there is lobbyism, its people in Congress or the White House. So American political elders are just their people. They know the rules, they know why it is necessary to leave the INF Treaty and who needs it. They know why Russia should remain an “enemy”. Moreover, at such an advanced age, they are unlikely to rush to break the system. And if they rush, then a sudden heart attack can solve the problem without too much noise.
Unfortunately for the American elites themselves, there is a negative side to such a system. We are now observing it. Because the threshold of trust is too high, youngsters find it extremely difficult to enter the circle of initiates. Whereas those who have already entered leave behind a path of sand. Even among congressmen, the average age reaches 59 years.
The loyalty of such veterans of the politics is not in doubt among the elite, which cannot be said about young applicants. The latter need years of impeccable reputation to be noticed. But the point is that now they are simply afraid of them. With due combination of circumstances – the current extremely tense situation on the world stage is quite suitable – the new generation will easily be able to overthrow the oligarchy from its pedestal, clinging to its traditions and ideas. It will be a battle of those who are used to playing by the rules against those for whom there are no rules. The outcome is easy to predict. As a result, the gray hair in the Washington establishment is more fashionable than ever. But such a process is called degeneration.
Eugene Gaman, specially for News Front