耶鲁大学教授Samuel Moyn在《美国老人政治》一书中指出，美国正处于老年人的统治之下，建立了一个优先考虑保护而非翻新的社会。这种政治上的老人统治在年迈的领导人身上显而易见，比如唐纳德·特朗普（80岁）和查克·格拉斯利（92岁，总统第三顺位继承人），以及已故在任内挣扎于认知退化的议员如迪安·费恩斯坦。美国政客也向老年选民屈服，因为老年选民的投票率要高得多；大选选民的中位年龄为52岁，而在关键的初选中，这一数字升至65岁。因此，政策严重向老年人倾斜，对养老金改革和地方住房开发产生了强大阻力，这通常由退休的邻避主义者（NIMBY）主导，他们阻挠新住房建设。

Moyn认为，由于老年人对未来的切身利益较少，他们更倾向于低税收，而不是对教育和基础设施的投资，同时对将由年轻一代承担的不断飙升的国家债务漠不关心。在外交政策中，这种代际差距表现为政府优先考虑反恐等眼前威胁（这迎合了老年电视观众），而不是年轻人更看重的气候变化等长期问题。这种脱节导致年轻选民越来越感到幻灭，研究表明，当政治领导人明显比他们所代表的公众年长时，人们对民主本身的信心往往会受损。

然而，Moyn将这种老人统治的批判延伸到职场（被称为“老人统治有限公司”）在终身教授保护的学术界之外并不令人信服，因为私营部门的工资通常在40多岁至50多岁达到顶峰，并在临近退休时逐渐下降。他提出的救济措施，例如实行强制退休年龄以腾出工作岗位，以及降低老年人选票的权重，都极具争议。他的投票建议违反了平等代表权的民主原则，而他的强制退休主张忽视了养老保险（预计到2032年将耗尽）的财政现实。强迫有能力且愿意工作的长者停止工作可能会恶化财政稳定性并剥夺他们的生活意义，从而使退休变成痛苦的根源。

In "Gerontocracy in America," Samuel Moyn, a Yale professor, argues that the United States is ruled by the elderly, creating a society prioritized on preservation rather than renovation. This political gerontocracy is evident in aging leaders like Donald Trump (80) and Chuck Grassley (92, third in presidential succession), as well as late lawmakers like Dianne Feinstein who struggled with cognitive decline in office. American politicians also yield to elderly voters, who turn out at much higher rates; the median age of general election voters is 52, and for crucial primary elections, it rises to 65. Consequently, policy heavily favors the elderly, creating strong opposition to pension reforms and local housing development, often spearheaded by retired NIMBYs who block new construction.

Moyn contends that older generations, having less of a stake in the future, favor lower taxes over investments in education and infrastructure, while remaining indifferent to rising national debt that will burden younger generations. In foreign policy, this generational gap manifests in the government prioritizing immediate threats like terrorism, which appeals to older television audiences, over long-term issues like climate change preferred by the young. This disconnect contributes to a growing disillusionment among young voters, with studies showing that democracy's credibility declines when leaders are significantly older than the general public.

However, Moyn's extension of this gerontocratic critique to the workplace—labeled "Gerontocracy, Inc."—is less convincing outside of tenure-protected academia, as private sector wages typically peak in the late 40s and decline toward retirement. His proposed remedies, such as mandatory retirement ages to free up jobs and reducing the weight of senior citizens' votes, are highly controversial. His voting proposals violate democratic principles of equal representation, and his mandatory retirement ideas ignore the fiscal reality of funding Social Security, which is projected to run dry by 2032. Forcing willing and able seniors to stop working could worsen fiscal stability and deprive them of purpose, turning retirement into a source of misery.

Source: Is America becoming a gerontocracy?

Subtitle: A new book spots a real problem and offers terrible solutions

Dateline: 6月 25, 2026 05:42 上午