Member-only story
Sorry Senator Markey — It’s Time to Go
Ed Markey’s a great guy. As honest as a politician can be, a faithful public servant, a progressive voice from the bluest state in America. He’s running for reelection to the U.S Senate in 2026, yet it’s time for him to go. Why? Because the guy will be eighty years old next year, and no one that age should be entrusted with a six-year term for any office. Period.
Call me ageist, but I’ll lean into the science on this. There’s a natural arc to the age of man, and to every particular man. We ramp up in intelligence and physical capability, hitting our physical peak around age 28, and our mental peak about the same time.
It’s no secret that most great scientific discoveries are made by younger folk. We are accustomed to seeing Einstein as a wizened old man with a mass of great white hair, but when he published his theory of relativity, at age 26, he had close cropped, dark hair and a neat moustache. Einstein added much to world throughout his life, but his truly bold contribution happened when he was young. Similarly, Louis Pasteur was 35 when he introduced the theory of fermentation, Thomas Edison 32 when he invented the incandescent light bulb, Neils Bohr a mere 28 when he described the components of the atom. Each continued to develop and refine, but their novel thinking happened when they were young.
