Words & Numbers

Episode 484: Geezer Presidents


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In this episode, we examine what actually counts as a victimless crime and why the term is so often misused, using examples ranging from seatbelt and helmet laws to drugs, prostitution, and software piracy. We discuss how insurance markets price risk more effectively than regulation, and why many so-called crimes are really paperwork violations with no direct victims. We also look at the limits of automation through recent failures in self-driving technology, and highlight the Foolishness of the Week involving ideological monocultures in academia and the incentives that sustain them. The conversation then turns to the main topic of whether there should be an age limit for the presidency, weighing cognitive decline, longevity, institutional incentives, and why existing safeguards like the 25th Amendment rarely function as intended.


00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:29 What Counts as a Victimless Crime?

01:38 Insurance, Risk, and Who Really Pays

04:36 Drugs, Prostitution, and True Victimless Crimes

06:26 Regulatory Crimes vs Real Human Harm

07:53 Software Piracy and Intellectual Property

12:38 Waymo, Power Outages, and Self-Driving Failures

14:49 Foolishness of the Week: Academic Monocultures in Academia

17:10 Personal Stories of Academic Censorship

20:39 Main Topic: Should Presidents Have an Age Limit?

21:41 Biden, Trump, and Cognitive Decline

24:39 Living Longer, Dementia, and Modern Leadership Risks

29:34 Age Limits in Other Professions

33:00 The Age of Past Presidents When Initially Elected

37:35 Which Presidents Would Have Survived a Term Age Limit?

39:33 The 25th Amendment and Why It Rarely Works

40:57 Incentives, Power, and Presidential Succession

43:53 Closing Thoughts

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Words & NumbersBy CiVL

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