The significant increase in household wealth, driven by the stock market, is having a tangible effect on the labor market. It is enabling a wave of older workers to retire earlier than demographic trends would otherwise predict, contributing to lower labor force participation rates among this cohort.

Economic policies benefiting older, asset-owning generations at the expense of younger ones are reshaping politics. The traditional left-right divide is becoming less relevant than the conflict between classes, which is highly correlated with age, creating unusual political alliances between formerly opposed groups.

Contrary to the ageist view that an older population drains resources, healthy older individuals represent a massive, untapped asset. Their accumulated wisdom, experience, and wealth are a form of "gold" that society must learn to mine by creating opportunities rather than pushing them aside.

The wealth gap is extreme: Americans under 40 hold just 5% of wealth. This hoarding isn't just greed; it's a rational response to a weak welfare state for the elderly, particularly the high cost and uncertainty of long-term care, leading them to retain assets instead of spending down.

The Islamic regime's support base is limited to an aging demographic that participated in or benefited from the 1979 revolution. The country's overwhelmingly young population, a result of a post-revolution population boom, bears the brunt of the regime's failures and is staunchly opposed to it.

Pensioners receive benefits because they spent decades working, contributing to the system, and accumulating political bargaining power. A society of "forever pensioners" who never had that economic leverage would be at the mercy of the ruling elite's whims.

Widespread emigration of young people, who are most likely to protest, has left Cuba with an aging population. This demographic shift naturally suppresses dissent and makes a popular uprising against the regime less likely, regardless of the severity of economic hardships.

Recent election results reveal two distinct Americas defined by age. Younger voters are overwhelmingly rejecting the political establishment, feeling that policies created by and for older generations have left them with a diminished version of the country. This generational gap now supersedes many traditional political alignments.

The notion that politics is a "young person's game" is obsolete. With more older than younger people in America, the most consequential political debates will now revolve around aging policy. Older citizens are becoming more, not less, politically relevant as they age.