Editorial: There should be age, term limits for those in Congress

Social media and the many qualms that surround it has recently come into a blinding legal spotlight focusing on the possibility of users’ personal data being shared or sold to third party companies and advertisers.

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of Facebook, then testified before Congress to address the issue of data breaches and, although the time could have been beneficial for the intently listening public, Zuckerberg was instead pelted with off-base, ill-informed questions from many elderly and middle-aged Congress members who clearly had no idea how Facebook or other social media platforms function.

This begs the question; at what point is Congress, of which the average age is nearly 60, out of touch with the younger generations whose futures they are shaping?

Plenty of video compilations of the ridiculous questions, and memes about Zuckerberg’s confusion have been created and shared across, you guessed it, social media. But one thing Congress didn’t seem to understand is that data that Facebook stores, is all willingly given by those who willingly join the platform.

Just as teachers and real-estate agents have to continually build knowledge and stay updated on the current events, why are members of Congress not held to the same standards?

There are plenty of issues that could and should be addressed about social media platform but unfortunately, these people were in no way qualified to ask such complex questions about a subject that they seemingly did not comprehend.

How do we fix this? There’s not one simple answer. Many have suggested age or term limits for members of Congress. But then where would be the cut-off be for discriminating on age in other careers?

Others have suggested passing a test on current events and trends every year. This is perhaps more plausible and non-discriminatory. The fact is, that a Congress more than 40 years older than the incoming adults, cannot make the best decisions for those who are the future of America. But, maybe no age limits or tests should be put in place. Perhaps the younger generations who are annoyed the with competency of Congress should instead take action and elect younger officials who better understand current technology and who can make better decisions and ask better questions about their future.

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