Ceilings II

 

O Death

Well I am death, none can excel
I'll open the door to heaven or hell
Whoa, death someone would pray
Could you wait to call me another day

If life is a building, then birth is the floor and death is the ceiling.

The Bill of Rights to the US Constitution concentrates on establishing rights (ceilings and floors) on individuals beyond which the state can not operate. The Constitution itself also set some floors for its officers, but unfortunately did NOT set ceilings. This was done because the life expectancy at the time of writing of the Constitution was such that any ceilings that needed to exist would be beyond the limits that death already imposed. Thus a minimum age for as President as 35 years was written into the constitution, but no maximum age was established. At the time, life expectancy was only 40 years. Admittedly that was skewed by death in childhood but even a 35 year old might on average only be expected to live an additional 30 years in 1796. Thus setting a ceiling of 75 years for taking the oath of the presidency could be considered to be an unnecessary ceiling when death might come earlier.

However life expectancies have changed. It is now conceivable to live to 100 or more years. So if there is a floor, we can no longer count on death imposing a cut-off before a ceiling is needed. By never acknowledging that the People as individuals were giving to die, no ceilings were set. If instead the People collectively are expecting to live forever, then ceilings shouldn’t be ignored.

There should be ceilings on how old its officers could be in order to take their oaths. There should also be term limits on each of those offices, NOT lifetime appointments. Those terms can be long enough that they are generational, not as nominated by the present voters. If the adult voting age is 18 years, then an 18 year term limit is consistent with being a regent for most wards of the state before they achieve full voting status. The nomination of most federal officers is by the President. If a President is limited to two term, then most federal officers should also be limited to two terms, unless otherwise specified. Not acknowledging death, allows death to win.