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The cognitive abilities of a human being decrease with age, every person is different but I assume we can all agree that above 75 years old, things start to get a bit difficult for most in terms of physical and mental capabilities.
My two cents IMO, a periodic cognitive test should be done to every government official and law enforcement after 75, the lives of many people depend on decisions these individuals are making on a daily basis.
What do you think?
If you can be too old to serve in the military you can be too old to serve in government
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True, and it should be done by advisors too.
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Cognitive assessments are fine, but this is all band aid thinking.
The problem is clearly deeper in this system that produces these outcomes. That we have three top elected officials who transparently have impaired cognition, means the basic electoral process is broken.
An idea that might help indirectly, is allowing people to vote against candidates. This is what most voters try to do, so why not just let them cast a vote directly against the candidate they hate? The winners will now be whoever has the highest net positive vote total.
Another idea would be to put severe restrictions on the finances of elected officials that persist beyond their term in office.
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Interesting...
I think separating money from state would be the real cure, the levels of corruption are quite high due to greed and the donors willing to feed that greed
Currently the donors are calling the shots and deciding which puppet will be in what position within the governments of the worlds including heads of state
Any country that manages to make donations and lobbying illegal will be taking a step in the right direction. A slice of our taxes should be used to fund the campaigns equally and writing a set of fair rules for the campaigns so all political parties receive the same amount of attention from the public. Currently is a joke, an illusion of democracy, the worst part is that most believe naively they live in a democracy....
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My preference is to completely separate the state from civil society, but this post seemed to be about various tinkerings around the edges.
I enjoy thinking through these sorts of wonkish proposals, but really this stuff all gets cleaned up by abolishing the state.
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Max age no, cognitive tests maybe, but that would open up a lot of opportunity for fraud and corruption. Think term limits should be pursued before any requirements for cognitive tests. I’m not even sure term limits would be appropriate in a truly free country where the people are truly the ones who get to decide who will govern them, but haven’t thought enough about it
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Terms...
IMO, terms are design for the puppeteers to keep in check their puppets ... Think about it, in the private sector we do not remove the CEO of a well managed company, if the person is skilled and capable, why to remove him/her for someone else that could be deficient or worst?
The removal of an official, in case of corruption or lack of performance should be the Democratic move by referendums requested by the majority of the population... In the private sector is similar in large companies, the stock holders demand performance, no performance and the CEO and other executive managers get sacked
Keeping competed government officials in their positions is key, all is needed is accountability, monitoring of corruption and the right mechanism for replacement when their performance is not adequate
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What about a cognitive test regardless of the age? Like an IQ test
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I do not believe that would get enough support, considering that the lawmakers would have to be tested... The IQ test is very controversial, scientist in general do not agree on the validity of the test as a measure of intelligence, but a simple cognitive test for sure!
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