Under the title “How Seniors Became America’s Ruling Class” is the image of an old man, wrinkles galore, a weathered face, an unkempt mustache, and a scowl. 

Inside the lead article is actually titled “The Old Guard: Confronting America’s geoontocratic crisis “. The article by Samuel Moyn is an excerpt from his soon-to-be-published book, Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth and What to Do About It. 

As if that wasn’t scary enough, the article drives home a negative picture of seniors with a disgusting David Plunkert, illustration of a clenched, wrinkled fist-face pounding down on Americans.

In the excerpt, Moyn makes some valid points about the role of the senior cohort in American elections, which is no different from that in other countries with advanced economies. Moyn goes too far, however, when he claims we are purposely hoarding our money and not dispersing it back into the economy fast enough.

As if America doesn’t already have enough systemic divisions, Moyn wants to establish a new one when he implies that today’s seniors are a greedy bunch of elites who want to grab power to preserve their privileged position in American society. Hence, he coined the term Gerontocracy.

Given America’s propensity to exaggerate and turn societal trends into permanent, unmovable mountains, there needs to be a recognition that this is just one more consequence of the baby boom passing through society. It is a short-term phase as members of the wave live out their last few years.  

Instead of bemoaning how the young have it so tough due to seniors, one needs to look at where their so-called wealth will be distributed and who will gain from it.

In that vein, Harper’s should have taken a more balanced and peaceful approach to the topic.