U.S. Sen. Ed Markey secured the Democratic nomination in Massachusetts’ Senate primary Tuesday, once again fending off a push for generational change as he seeks a third term.
Markey, 80, defeated U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, who had attempted to argue that it was time to do away with the “status quo” in his pursuit to oust the octogenarian.
Yet Markey successfully pointed to Moulton’s more moderate positions to argue that it was Moulton — not the older incumbent — who was out of touch with the state’s voters. Perhaps no other issue defined the race more than transgender rights, and Markey repeatedly hit Moulton for previously saying he would not want his daughters to play against transgender athletes.
The real take here is that older progressives should find a younger progressive to support, better yet, train an understudy or protege to take over when they retire, or best case, be a part of an org that can replace them.
Look, between the two, of course I’d rather Markey, but come on. It’s wild to me that so many people in power have no plans regarding how to pass the torch.
So I mean I’m all for getting rid of the older Democrats and let the younger generation lead but Seth wasn’t it.
Yeah, number of times around the sun, as a metric used by itself, doesn’t mean jack squat.
Mass voter here: I was dismissive of Markey before learning of his positions and work. We went to a rally, and many young people spoke about his progressive stances, advocacy for trans rights, voting against this regime, and so on. I voted for him, and I’m glad to see Seth dejected. I don’t want a young Senator with old positions.
Instead you get a guy on deathwatch.
“More moderate” absolutely fucking is not an accurate description of someone’s transphobic rignt-wing views.
Please accept my up-vote.
Massachusetts rocks.
Hell yeah!
We need to start forcing people retire (especially if they are not dependent on the income). Geriatrics are hoarding too much wealth and power.
Nope, that’s a ridiculous take.
People have a choice at the ballot box. And the young are just as capable of hoarding wealth and power; it’s hardly exclusive to any particular age bracket.
Capable, sure, but that’s not the reality we’re living in. I just believe there needs to be some sort of re-calibration towards equity between people in the late stages of their career and the young people who are waiting for them to leave the well-paying jobs.
But I do recognize there’s a lot of nuance to this discussion. I do however find the arguments of Samuel Moyn (“Gerontocracy in America”) very compelling, moderate, and well-reasoned.
Eh, I seem to recall hearing boomers complaining about the same thing (older generations not just stepping aside and letting them take over). They seemed to think they were just somehow owed positions of more prominence, just by the rationale that there was so many of them and they had been coddled most of their lives.
I like Adam Mockler, but I’m so tired of him making some kind of point where he says “people in my generation…” as a preface, as if there is something truly unique to an age bracket. It is truly eye-rolling, and I bet he cringes at some of this stuff once he’s a bit older.
Also, what people overlook is the biggest wealth transfer in history has already started, and it’s from boomers -> Gen Y/Gen Z. So when people are talking as if boomers are somehow clinging to all the wealth, I’m not sure that’s really true.
That’s fair. Looks like I need to investigate this further.
It’s possible I’ve been consuming too much rational optimist type of stuff. What tends to come up a lot in this kind of literature is that the average lifespan is increasing, as a general trend. So when I see the possibility of not only lifespan being extended, but health span, I wonder at the constant drumbeat to start imposing things like arbitrary age limits on politicians, which is likely to trickle down to people in other roles, at a time when people, more than ever, may be retaining their capabilities (along with the wisdom and the job experience) into much older years on average.
Or when I see people clamoring to “fix” Social Security by making people take those benefits at a later age at almost the exact same time they are talking about pushing people out of work.
I’m not saying you are making those arguments, mind you.
Yay another 80 year old to make decisions for the masses. Let’s celebrate his victory. Fuck what a joke
Edit: This post just shows how all this is controlled opposition. You people don’t want change, you think this fuck is on your side? 🤣🤣 What a joke of a country
You are mistaking the number of times around the sun for someone having good positions on the issues.
Stop taking the bait on the psyops campaigns to whip up intergenerational bullshit.
I don’t like that an 80 year old won, but the alternative is a younger but shittier option. Change just for the sake of change isn’t good. It’s not controlled opposition when the older candidate actively represents their constituents progressive views and the other is a bigot. His history is very public so we don’t just think he’s on our side, his body of work proves it. What a joke of a take you have there.
