Yesterday, I climbed up the ladder to reach the loft in my new shed. I call it a shed, but it is the size of a small barn. Soon it will be full of boxes containing toys. Sacha is in the toy business. She buys vintage toys at flea markets, cleans them up and then sells them on eBay. The barn is a place to store her inventory.
The loft is probably 10 feet high. In my youth, I would have climbed up there without a second thought. But when I climbed up there yesterday, I looked down and wondered if I would break an ankle if I lost my balance when pulling up from the ladder to the loft. What would have been a carefree exercise when I was 20, now was something I needed to perform with care.
And that sucks.
Years ago, when my grandma was in her 70s, she told me that while her body was old, mentally she still felt like she was the same person as when she was 20. This did not mean that she was as mentally alert as when she was 20 or had the same desires, but she was the same person. And it was hard for her to accept that she was old when her brain told her that she was still the same person as she was in the 1930s.
The denial of reality is a powerful force. There is a form of magical thinking that pretends we can change reality with our thoughts. That a man can be a woman if he thinks he is and puts on a dress. That age is “just a number” and if you eat right, exercise and have positive thoughts, you will be a physically and mentally active person at 100.
But it is all a self-delusion. And while we can ignore reality, reality will not ignore us.
Madonna can pretend she is a sexy vixen at the age of 66. But outside of her circle of sycophants, people laugh at her attempts to pretend she is still 20. Aging Rock stars still attempt to prance on stage while singing songs of their youth 50 years prior. It is pathetic.
And we see this in politics. Our political class has become geriatric. The obvious example is the 82-year-old Joe Biden who has been a vegetable for the past 4 years. But then there was the recent case of Texas Republican Representative Kay Granger, 81, who dropped out of sight for a month. No one knew where she was. She was later found in a nursing home.
And then there is the president-elect. Trump turns 79 next year. And, sadly, it is starting to show.
The Trump of 20 years ago was brash, articulate, funny and insightful. Trump now rambles like an old man. And maybe that is because he is an old man.
I admire Trump. He has shown great courage in standing up to endless attacks, including attempted assassinations. And I believe that he really cares about normal Americans. Thank God he will be our president instead of Kamala. But if you listen to him speak, there is a lack of focus and meandering. This becomes painfully obvious when you contrast him to JD Vance who is young and succinct.
Listening to Trump comment on H-1B visas was sad. Trump in 2016 was forcefully against this program which takes American jobs. Eight years later, Trump now thinks this is a good program because we lack talent in America. But the disturbing thing is that this change does not seem to be due to the usual political scheming and lying, but due to Trump becoming isolated and confused. Trump is becoming the old King who is influenced by Wormtongue.
I don’t want to become “black pilled” about Trump’s second term before it starts. But Trump is starting to look like a man who will ramble on about bizarre issues (e.g., Greenland) while the people around him lead him to become another George W. Bush.
In this nightmare scenario, the second Trump term drops mass deportations (except for deporting a few violent criminals) and focuses on more wars for Israel. The out-of-control spending will not only continue but increase (more money for the military,)
I hope I am wrong, and Trump has the strength and mental acuity to navigate this hostile environment. But I am not sure a man nearing 80 is up to the task.
