Isn’t it about time that old white guys quit calling all the shots? They have had a long run with mixed reviews, but, I mean, really, let’s try a new strategy, shake things up a bit. While John F. Kennedy and Teddy Roosevelt were relatively young when they became presidents, all the other U.S. presidents (save Barack Obama) would be classified as old white guys. And with Trump’s ascent to the seat of power, we have affirmed that the richer and older and whiter and penis-bearing a person is, the greater the likelihood that he will snatch the keys to the front door of the White House. Enough! This trend must come to an end. Fellas such as Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein have done little to recommend themselves as anything other than leaders of a sexual offenders’ support group. Trump could hold forth on the strategies of effective pussy grabbing, followed by Weinstein’s timeless demonstration of masturbation in front of shocked and disgusted young women. Moreover, each day lately, another privileged, old, white guy is implicated in a sexual exploitation scandal. Could it be that just about all men who fall into the powerful, white, and old category are in fact sexual manipulators, sick men who need to prove their dominance in a carnal manner? How could that be?
At least in the cases of Donald and Harvey, these exhibits for the prosecution have money, power, influence, and centuries of patriarchal hegemony—all of which condition us because that’s the way it has been for, oh, as long as anyone can recall. Give the car keys to the old white guy. Let him drive. It’s okay. Old guys have been taking us for a ride since the invention of the wheel. Fair disclosure: I am an old white guy, though lacking the wealth and influence (and, I would hope, the moral failing) that would allow me to take you all for an audacious ride.
But wait! Considering recent political and social developments, perhaps it is time to change the pattern. It is not simply two guys representing a whole privileged generation—two dreadful people, by the way—that lead me to this conclusion. Look at America’s board rooms, at the corporate HQs, at the powerful committees in Washington D.C., at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and at the top earners in about every quarter of our work world. What you find is a preponderance of old white guys. Power guys. Rotary Club members. Golfers. Tailored suit people. Bully boys. Lexus drivers. Tax haters. Movers and shakers. They sit in the halls of power and influence damn near everything. And by the way, these votaries bound to influence and wealth will not yield their positions willingly. Why should they? Surrendering power is more difficult that acquiring it.
Excuse the cliché, but here is my unwanted and unasked-for suggestion: let’s take out the trash and do some deep-cleaning. Time to take the harnesses off the old guys and put them out to pasture. Time for youth and women and ethnic minorities to take their places as caretakers of the American experiment. Time for our leaders to reflect the racial and cultural diversity of who we are. We no longer have a monotype society, a father-knows-best society; rather our country has grown complex in its structure and composition. So, it follows, doesn’t it, that change is necessary for healthful vital signs of our republic?
That change is already happening, in case you have not noticed. Each week, each month, more and more people conclude that our leadership model is broken. The old power structure, represented by Trump and all those like him, are, of course, fighting back. Inevitably they will yield to all the formidable societal forces demanding a new template, a new social order. It must be. No stopping it. For now, our country will suffer from the malaise and fever that comes from systematic corruption.
The fever will break.
We will make America well again.