Who's Running Your Government: Different Paradigms for Different Worlds?

Although I am no political "activist," from time to time I try to watch some of the "talking heads" in politics go on about this, that and the other... which they propose will make the world a better place.

Of course, I live in the US of A, even though I am actually Danish by birth... and spent my first 20-odd years there. Still go back to visit family, on a fairly regular basis.

One of the things that stands out for me is that being "politically involved" mean quite different things in US, and in Denmark.

I also regularly notice that politicians in the US tend to be much older than in Denmark... which (I suspect) is part of why so much of the US population feels "apart" from the people supposedly representing them in government.

View from Big Sur, CA

Changes Are A-Coming??

It's slow to happen, but there are now signs that something is happening here in the US in the way people get involved, and it's taking a different shape. It revolves around people's sentiment about politics, starting at the local level, and it's very subtle.

It can be seen mostly in the way the predominant thought is shifting from someone saying (for example) "We need to find a better mayor/council person/representative" and looking to the existing political "pool" for that, and instead saying "I'm tired of this, so I am going to run for mayor/council/representative."

In some sense, it's a return to the way government formed, a long, long time ago.

The ground level effect is a tremendous influx of much younger people into local and regional politics; a shift away from the traditional US maxim of politics mostly being a gray hair activity. It might take a decade before it filters through to the national level... but unlike much of the "for public consumption TV news", it is a "quiet" movement that has no leaders and really isn't being recorded/reported anywhere.

Not sure what these are called, but they are quite pretty and grow everywhere here, in summer

Are Graying Politicians Ideal?

What's most directly under attack is the traditional power base in the US. Not so long ago (just to follow up on what I mentioned earlier), I was looking at some statistics... most noteworthy, that the median age of the Danish Parliament is 44, while the median age of the US houses of Congress is 61.

Looking at it a little differently, the people "in power" aren't really representative of the population, in terms of thought. Whereas I grok the whole "wisdom of elders" thing... how well does someone nearing the end of their life represent (for example) young college graduates and families with small children? Do they even remember what it's like to struggle to pay a monthly bill?

Now consider that the median age in Denmark (of the entire population) is 41.9 vs. a median age member of Danish Parliament being 44, vs. in the USA the median age is 37.8 for the population as a whole vs median age of a member of Congress being 61.

Looked at a little differently, Denmark is essentially governed by "peers" while the US is governed by "parents." Two very different paradigms. Now, I'm not going to make a judgment in the deeper cultural implications here... just hanging it out there as something to consider and discuss with those around you...

Thanks for reading!

How about YOU? Are you politically active? Do you believe governing is best handled by older people or by people who are like a sampling of the general population? What age are politicians — in general — where you live? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 181214 23:28 PDT