While I mostly agree...

Venice was run by very old men. It was common for the Doge to be in their 80s. Meanwhile, many of their neighbors had kings who were very young, sometimes teenage boys.

Venice was the longest lasting, most stable state in Europe.

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tokai 3 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

There's multiple states in Europe that lasted longer (and they are still lasting to this day) than Venice.

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Mistletoe 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It may have been stable and dominant in spite of that, like America, currently being run by senile old men. The human mind is a biological computer and it isn’t pretty the older it gets.

https://medium.com/psyc-406-2015/how-fast-does-iq-decline-ca...

	▲	johngossman 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Average is probably not what you need to worry about: I'd bet David Attenborough and Mel Brooks still have IQs considerably higher than the average 25-year old. And I'm not convinced IQ is as important as that elusive factor called character. But you may be right. Maybe what the US really needs is a lagoon.

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floodfx 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The Doge had no power.

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johngossman 7 hours ago | parent [-]

Welcome to my rathole: Venetian history. To expand on your thesis, the Council of Ten was the executive power in Venice, but the Doge and minor council attended the Council of Ten meetings and the Doge often chaired those meetings. And even if he was powerless, the Council was made up of other old men. I don't want to push this whole argument, I'm not recommending we adopt the Venetian constitution. But I don't think you can blame current chaos on age.

	▲	izacus 16 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Can you explain how is the example of Venetian republic relevant for something like a massive multi-cultural, multi-racial federation in 21st century? One that's led by 100s of old people not just ten rich family heads?

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thefz 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Well at the times of Doges the world hardly revolutionized. Nowadays a person in their 80s has lived through the rise of at least three different medias (radio, TV, internet) and the world has never changed so fast.