Elon Musk recently suggested that anyone 70-years-old and older should be barred from running for political office.
At the start of the month, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX took to Twitter to announce his thoughts about political office.
And his choice for an age cut off to run for office is slightly memetic.
Let’s set an age limit after which you can’t run for political office, perhaps a number just below 70 …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2021
The tweet states:
“Let’s set an age limit after which you can’t run for political office, perhaps a number just below 70...”
The implication is that the age should be ‘69’, a common joke number due to its association with a sex act.
However, there’s a little more to the suggestion. Current United States President Joe Biden and the previous President and failed 2020 candidate, Donald Trump are both over 70.
Though some felt it may have been a dig at Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. Musk and Sanders recently got into a Twitter fight over Sanders’ insistence that the rich pay their fair share in taxes.
Reasoning aside, people were divided on the idea.
I agree 100% if age limits & cognitive skills are a requirement for a basic fast-food job then it definitely needs to be for ALL political officers
— Donyele Murray (@spiritsnatcher1) December 3, 2021
force everyone to retire at 68? could you retire at 68?
— Mother's matter 🐀🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@mrsfr0g) December 2, 2021
Perhaps set it somewhere close to 50, i feel like people over that age are too disconnected to the current times, so they don't really understand the problems of our current society (there's a very few of them who can, but most of them don't have any political influence).
— Bryan (@bryanrou) December 3, 2021
Hello again Mr. Musk, how are you today? Here in Lebanon 🇱🇧 they must be over 80 to start 🤷🏻♂️😎
— Naim Halawi (@NaimHalawi) December 2, 2021
Yes, but the founding fathers got the age to run for president correct. 35 years aka 420 months.
— Bnanna (@bnanna922) December 2, 2021
That’s just plain funny.
— Stiff Person Syndrome Research Foundation (@TheSPSRF) December 5, 2021
The age of politicians in the United States has been a point of contention.
Without a limit on terms in the United States Congress, some politicians have served for nearly thirty years. The average age of senators is 64.3 years old, the oldest average in history.
This has some people questioning if the current political landscape needs new blood. But is an age limit the right way?
Though there may be better ideas to improve the country.
Let’s set a limit to the amount of money people earn so that actual wealth distribution can occur and millions of people can eat and sleep well, instead of going into your pocket.
— Hannah Celeste (@mandarangkaal) December 2, 2021
Let’s set an income limit after which you can’t avoid paying tax.
— Annapianna - Not a troll, just a public servant (@annapianna1) December 2, 2021
Perhaps it would be much better to remove the minimum voting age and finally make the voice of young people heard?
— Wolfgang Gründinger (@wolfibey) December 2, 2021
WE WANT TERM LIMITS. WE WANT TERM LIMITS. WE WANT TERM LIMITS. WE WANT TERM LIMITS. WE WANT TERM LIMITS. WE WANT TERM LIMITS.
— Unpoppedcorn (@Unpoppedcorn2) December 3, 2021
I suggest that after the first billion every CEO should be thoroughly investigated yearly for tax avoidance and wage theft.
— Hamud Mirza (@hamudm) December 5, 2021
I'd settle for a limit on monetary contributions and expenditures. $70 seems about right.
— Glen MacDonald 🇨🇦 (@glen1macdonald) December 4, 2021
Musk has a regular habit of making strange Tweets. For instance, he made a sexist joke that truly encapsulates the harassment that women in STEM fields face.
And despite being called out for that, he hasn’t learned anything.
