"Robert A. Heinlein - Take back your Government" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

it, until they get old enough to pull it on the next crop.
There is just enough truth in it to keep the practice going. Wisdom
mellowed by years is beautiful to see. In public life the occasional George
Norris, Henry Stimson, or Justice Holmes are as breathtakingly inspiring as
the Lincoln Memorial. However, in most cases, what passes for the wisdom
of age is merely the sophistication of experience, knowledge of precedents,
and familiarity with details.
In politics our senior citizens habitually assume that their years entitle
them to respectful attention from their juniors on the assumption that they
have mellowed, grown broader, and increased in patriotism and social
responsibility through the years.
It ain't necessarily so! Although there are shining exceptions, the average
run of our elder citizens are notably avaricious, self-centered, unpatriotic, and
devoid of any notion of social responsibility, as compared with their sons and
daughters.19
Before I am accused of personal bias let me state that I am no longer a
youngster myself. I've reached the shady side of the street, short of wind, and
fat in the middle. To my regret, young women now call me "sir" and stand
when they speak to me.
And I do not speak primarily of political office holders. I do not refer to the
congressional practice whereby senility is an asset rather than a liability in
reaching key committee posts, nor am I repeating the arguments about
"The Nine Old Men." As a matter of fact old men in politics seem to keep
young better than their non-political contemporaries. (Try shadowing a
seventy-year-old congressman during a campaign; he'll wear you to a
frazzle.)
In any case, the problem of superannuated officeholders is a political
issue outside the scope of this book. I am speaking of the ordinary run of
elder citizen, your neighbours, your parents, your grandparents. They may be
kind to children and dogs and sweet to look upon in church and at family
dinner, but politically speaking the average lot of them are the sorriest bunch
of old vultures you will find.



25
 Remember that when you start punching doorbells. I am sorry to say
these things. I like Great Aunt Mary's apple pies, her neat grey hair, and her
wrinkled smile as well as you do. I had the opinion forced on me.
For example - several years ago I was covering a district which lay, half
and half, on the right side and the wrong side of the tracks. I interviewed
young and old, rich and poor, men and women. I expected and found certain
trend differences in view point on the two sides of the tracks. But I was
surprised to find an amazing and almost unanimous similarity in viewpoint on
the part of the elderly rich and the elderly poor.
Mellowed and altruistic interest in the welfare and future of the whole
community? Far from it! The elderly poor wanted $200 every month, or some
other pension which would pay them more income than they had ever earned
while working, and they didn't give a hoot what it did to the country! The
elderly rich wanted the highest possible return from mortgages, rents,