Decisions are made primarily for the future, for the young and unborn Finns. Why on earth do the decision makers have to be elderly, Mörttinen asks in his column.
Matti Mörttinen, journalist, non-fiction writer
The United States Constitution dictatesthat the country’s president must be at least 35 years old.
There is no upper age limit.
Now Americans are opening up to the freedom to choose whether the 82-year-old will lead the federal government at the end of the next season Donald Trump or 86 years old Joe Biden.
Sick business. In such a situation, it is not better to be safe in the old, but the danger is worse in the old.
One of the best movies of 2007 was called No Country for Old Men. In Finnish, it roughly means that this country is not suitable for old men.
The film should be adapted again under the name Yes, indeed a country for old men: This is indeed a country for old men. The main roles would be Biden and Trump.
By the way, the movie in question ran in Finland under the name Menetetty maa. For once there was an apt translation – or at least it would be suitable for the new version.
Sick business. In such a situation, it is not better to be safe in the old, but the danger is worse in the old.
British ex foreign minister David Owen wrote in February to The Economist that an upper age limit should also be written into the law for the presidents of the United States. No one should be nominated who would be over 70 years old when the position starts.
Owen himself is 85 years old and trained as a neurologist. We can agree that he is qualified to express an opinion on the subject.
He also proposed mandatory health checks for senior politicians, where the brain would also be examined; and pointed out that in the vast majority of the world’s largest companies, a mandatory retirement age has been set for managers, which is typically 70 years old.
Two of our presidents after Kekkonen have suffered from dementia after leaving office.
We have aging in Finland the risks brought to state management were learned Urho Kekkonen in the last presidential years. After him, it was established that the president can rule for a maximum of two terms, i.e. 12 years.
The restriction has been necessary. Two of our presidents after Kekkonen have suffered from dementia after leaving office.
However, the changes stopped there. No one dares to propose mandatory upper age limits. In many ways, Finland is also a country of old men.
Our seniors quite often start “doing” political decision-making after retirement, at least at the local level. You don’t see as many women of the same age there.
In Parliament can be seen same mismatch. The 16 oldest MPs were born in the 1950s. 13 of them are men and three are women.
Throughout the years, only one woman has been the age president of the Parliament. He was Miina Sillanpääwhose parliamentary career ended in 1948.
The age structure of the nation is also heavily weighted today. In addition, the oldest among us are the most active voters. It has further slowed down the efforts of younger people to become decision makers.
However, decisions are made especially about the future, for young and unborn Finns. This general in his mind Aimo Pajunen founded in 1989 the Voice of the Child corporate. One of its ideas was that the right to vote in elections would be determined by the size of the family. Adults in a basic family with two children would be allowed to cast a total of four votes in the elections.
It is probably unnecessary to mention that nothing came of the project, but the organization was able to even establish the office of a children’s representative. Thanks to the old, now deceased general for that.
Elders are the most active voters. It has further slowed down the efforts of younger people to become decision makers.
The time would be ripe for lowering the voting age for 16 years. This has already been done, for example, in Austria and in German local and state elections. In this year’s EU elections, in addition to those two, 16-year-olds from Belgium and Malta will also be allowed to vote. In Finland, those who have turned 16 have so far only been able to elect parish councils.
I can already hear voices. They say that such young people are not mature enough to decide. I answer that they are nevertheless wise and experienced enough to bear criminal responsibility for their actions.
I am ready to give up my right to vote when I turn 80.
And why is a person’s right to vote at the other end of the life cycle so sacred that it cannot be questioned? On the contrary – rather, with the help of assistants, home voting and other special arrangements, the aim is to guarantee that the elders also vote – even if in the fog.
I myself am ready to give up my right to vote no later than when I turn 80, regardless of my physical and mental condition at that point.
And an upper age limit for the president as envisioned by David Owen would also suit Finland.
Matti Mörttinen
The author is a 65-year-old journalist and non-fiction writer from Pirkanmaa, who is finally and for the first time in his life older than the country’s president.