Joe Biden Is Old. Get Over It. (David Rothkopf at the Daily Beast - great pro-Biden piece)

[LisaM]

2. Absolutely. We live in such an ageist society.

I see it in the workplace - I work in law firms and increasingly see people in various capacities pushed out because of age. It's really discouraging, because these are the people with the most institutional knowledge and the best skills.

My former firm just laid off 60 people and guess what, not the young ones. They even sent out a (leaked) bone-chilling memo about how how they intended to replace people with machines. Absolutely no acknowledgement of their contributions and knowledge. It was horrifying. Before I left, I was experiencing the effect of losing the last old timers. The newer, younger people were nice but they never took off their headphones (workplace fail, I felt intimidated asking them for help) and they didn't know how to do basic things like write a business letter or, in one case, turn on a typewriter (needed occasionally to put in a title or address on A4 paper).

I celebrate Biden's age. First, he's young for his age, and second, he doesn't show any signs of lagging technologically or socially. We need his experience. I don't know when companies stopped appreciating age and wisdom, but it's a bad look. I know people in their 50s who have trouble finding jobs,. despite their qualifications.