The final acts of the Gerontocrats
Schumer finds out what happens when the younger generation has had it with the geezers
The war is over, but the peace has not taken hold. Just in case you haven’t been paying attention, as of writing this, the shutdown has not yet ended. We’re at 41 days, 8 hours, and still going until the House meets and approves the Senate’s capitulation. This was a Boomer shutdown, and the Gen-X and Millennials are not happy. From the viewpoint of people born since 1970, this is how the Gerontocrats have always treated the younger generations, and they’re sick of it.
I recently read the account of what happened in Nepal when a gerontocracy failed. This occurred in early September, and I’d forgive you if you missed it, because it barely made news here. I’ll sum up. Since 2006, when Nepal overthrew its monarchy, three parties have ruled the place: a Maoist party, a communist party, and an authoritarian party. They’ve more or less shared power, handing off the prime minister duties every nine months on average from one old rich dude to another. And the kids, 56 percent of Nepalese are under 30, suffer poverty, unemployment, and overall the end of the stick used to scrape the soles of sneakers that have stepped in something foul, the nepo-babies posted on Instagram how wonderful the rich life is.
So, reading the room totally wrong, and failing to understand the importance of online culture, while simultaneously believing that the power to decree something means it can actually be done, the old people decided to ban social media, because the kids were getting unruly and protesting too much. It’s not like protest was something foreign to Nepal, it’s just that the older generation ruling the place didn’t like how easy it made organizing, and how fast events spread.
On September 8th they thought social media was dark, but the Internet didn’t even blip. Then when a spark lit the protests, the government cracked down hard, and 19 protesters, mostly 19 and under, were dead. Three days later, the mobs had burned the offices of all three parties, the buildings housing Parliament, the 122-year-old palace housing the Prime Minister, and Supreme Court building and lower courts, municipal buildings, and the offices of the Orwellian anti-corruption commission in Kathmandu. All over Nepal, government buildings became bonfires.
The state collapsed, the Army took charge but could not stop what was happening, and by the end of September 11th, an online election held on Discord had elected a new Prime Minister, who was technically ineligible for the office, but the rules had also been torched.
This is what happens when the younger generation is sufficiently ignored, mistreated and exploited. I’m not saying America is on the verge of going Nepal, but we have been trending toward it, slowly but grindingly sure, for decades.
The average age of U.S. Senators in the Democratic Party leadership is 76.3 years. The Republicans are young enough for the Democrat Gerontocrats to have baby sat them: the average leadership age is a spritely 61.7 years. President Trump is older than all of them, and the president who preceded him was older still, and his mentation matched his senescence.
Of the eight Democrats who broke from the party to accept the shutdown-ending deal (which was the same deal offered a month ago), the oldest is 80, followed by 78, 75, 72, and two in their sixties. Only Sen. John Fetterman represents as a true Gen-Xer at 51 (he’s nearly a Millennial). Both New Hampshire senators—both former governors—were part the group: Jeanne Shaheen at 78 is not seeking re-election, and 72-year-old Maggie Hassan isn’t up for election until 2028. In fact, none of the senators in the group are up for election in 2026; Sen. Dick Durbin, the elder at 80, is not running.
A forty-plus day shutdown of the federal government, which drove even wealthy communities like the one where I live in north metro Atlanta, to have the high school principal call for donations and volunteers because there are residents who depend on SNAP benefits to feed their kids. Air traffic controllers, who aren’t particularly well paid, have to suffer because they’re living paycheck to paycheck without getting paid. The government and its important functions began to grind to a half, while the president said his goal was for Republicans who didn’t get with his program to experience “a living hell.”
The wealthy, old class that runs the Democratic Party is facing its Nepal moment, politically. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is facing calls for jis resignation. The younger crowd, like senate hopeful Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, spared no words: “if he were an effective leader, he would have united his caucus to vote ‘No’” on the deal. That would have extended the shutdown, and at some point, Republicans would have broken and done what Trump wanted, to kill the filibuster.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Hamas), posted on X that “Sen. Schumer has failed to meet this moment and is out of touch with the American people.” California Democratic Reps. Mike Levin and Ro Khanna both called for Schumer to go, along with at least three others. Of note, none of the Democratic senators, including the ones who broke from Schumer’s blockage of any deal to end the shutdown, have joined in the Julius Caesar crowd and taken out their knives. But the deed itself is a betrayal, and speaks much louder then words or posts on X.
The final act of the groups of eight Gerontocrats was to give the torch to the younger generation, but tell them not to use it to burn everything down. If Schumer and the rest of the elderly, out of touch, insulated, and in many cases, corrupt crowd, fail to read the room, they might find themselves in the same boat as the Nepalese leaders. Or worse, they might end up like the Republicans, slave to the arbitrary and capricious whims of self-decorated leaders of “the people.”
The best thing Schumer can do right now is resign.
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