Aged Like Fine Wine

I was just doing a scan on the news & came across a blog in the Washington Post where one blogger said that McCain is just crazy & old.  That struck me as not only an unusual statement, but also typical.  A dichotomy?  Yes.  But I think it's symptomatic  of a larger problem in this country & culture.  I can't speak of other cultures because I don't know that much about them.  But I do know that some other cultures come close to revering their elders & for good reasons.

I'm not a big McCain fan & have said from the begining of the campaign that I thought age was a factor just as I said inexperience was factor in Obama.  But I respect McCain for his experience, his contributions & service to this country.  I may not agree with his policies, but in no way can I understand any person hanging "crazy," on him.  I have to wonder what the next generation or two will have on their list of accomplishments with attitudes like this.

A good example is a situation I had some years back with a young man, late teens, early twenties.  I forget what the topic was, but he decided to rag on old people, basically, anyone over thirty.  Remember that old saying from the 60's?  So I decided to take him to task.  I told him that he seemed, & was portraying himself, as a fairly smart person.  He replied that , yeah, he was, he had a 3.8 GPA, he was hip, he was happening & he was the future.  I said ok, let me ask a question or two.  Are you smarter today than you were a year ago?  He said, of course.  I said, how about five years ago?   Dude, of course.  How about ten years ago?  Dude, don't be ridiculous.  I then asked him if he started to see a pattern forming.  In a typical manner, he said, what?  I then told him that was the reason that he wasn't as smart as he thought.

It's not just a matter of dates, names, facts & fugures.  It's a matter of accumulated knowlege & the intelligence to put all of them together for comparison & judging.  Unfortunately, the logic escaped him. I hope the quote of the blogger is not a portend of things to come.  JATFUR.

Rich K