evilOpinion: The Number One Reason to Vote for Obama? His Age.

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many different pieces expressing my opinions on current events in the United States and the world at large. It's my belief that humanity only suffers when we are silent, so whether you agree with me or not, I hope you'll read my opinions and help me stop the silence by sharing your opinions as well.

evilOpinion: Obama should be elected because of his age.

You're probably asking yourself "His age? You mean because McCain is old and is much more likely to not make it through his term as President?"

No, this line of reasoning actually has nothing to do with McCain's proximity to the end of his life. He could be in his late fifties or early sixties and I'd still argue this same point: Obama needs to be elected because he is of a more recent generation then most of the politicians in Washington right now.

America is pretty far behind the rest of the world when it comes to new ideas and innovations. Some might say this is the fault of the Bush Administration and their "leave us alone and take care of yourselves" domestic policies, but I see it as a symptom of a much larger problem - namely the domination of America's federal government by a generation of men and women who were raised in an era that saw very little in the way of innovation or change. Sure there are some exceptions, like the Civil Rights movement and developments in industrial engineering, but even those advances are paled when compared to the lightniong fast pace of invention and innovation of the late seventies to today.

Think a moment about the first government you encounter growing up; your own family. Parents and grandparents are the "elders", the people with the experience and knowledge that is supposed to make them the best at making the tough decisions. As a child you never doubt this, because you cannot see yourself in their position making their tough decisions. This is how most of the country sees their elected officials, because they cannot imagine themselves in that position, having to make those decisions.

As you grow up, however, you begin to develop your own ideas and are shaped by the world around you, and what do almost all young adults rtealize about their parents as they enter into their own adulthood? That their parents are not quite as smart as they seemed to be, that they are fallible, and that they usually cannot adapt their minds to new ideas or change that does not have roots in their own background or how they were raised.

This is what I see in America's government now. Just like a grandparent who cannot wrap their minds around the use of a computer, while their 10 year old granddaughter uses one daily, our aging politicians cannot keep their minds or ideas on pace with the speed of the last twenty years and it's advances. Meanwhile most of us in younger generations are sitting around asking "Why is India using air-powered cars before we are?!"

If the family analogy doesn't do it for you, then let's look at the world of business. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Starbucks, and countless other highly successful companies are not run by greying old men who are set in their ways. They are run (or at least were created by) a younger generation of thinkers who adapt and change when confronted with new ideas or tough situations.

Would Bill GatesBill Gates have made his billions if he had insisted on sticking with his original designs for PCs the way that America's politicians stick with foreign oil as an energy source despite a mountain of evidence that says it's a mistake? No way, which is why Microsoft is continually producing new software and following new paths and new ideas. Makes you wonder what would have happened in America if one of those younger people had decided to go into politics in the late 80's/early 90's instead of making themselves filthy rich with their business ideas.

It's pretty obvious that the federal government is the last refuge of the older generation. It's the place they feel like they have the right to be, that their experiences in life means they deserve to be there "for our own good", just like the parents they mimick, treating the American people like children. Meanwhile look at the stagnation they've caused.

Cars have gone from being made of solid metal to composite materials that are stronger then steel...while the roads they drive on have remained unchanged for half a century and bridges that were only meant to last that long begin to fail and collapse.

Electronic devices have gone from using alkaline batteries which ran dry and had to be disposed of contantly, to lithium batteries which can be recharged and reused...while most of our cities and cars are still being run on the same fuel that powered steamships and trains over 200 years ago!

Businesses make billions of dollars a year with new ideas and hot innovations...while our government of the last fifty years has rarely been able to find a way to operate without losing massive amounts of money a year.

Now you may ask yourself, how will Barack ObamaBarack Obama solve those problems? Well you can read his plans on some things like alternative energy on his website, but I'm not here to discuss specific issues. In this election, where we have a clear choice between old ideas or new ideas, the same old direction or a new direction, I find the choice to be crystal clear whether I agree with all his policies or not.

I think it's about time we had a person in charge of the federal giovernment that was born and raised in the "modern" age, who's grown up using new technology and having to adapt to new ideas and a lot of change.

But that's just my opinion.