Re: “Bangor Republican says he will run against Poliquin” (Dec. 2, Page B2):

In a Sun Journal article published in the Press Herald, Garret Swazey, in making his case to fellow Republicans, was quoted as saying, “Congress needs ‘young blood’ like him to deal with subjects such as technology and cryptocurrency issues that leave older lawmakers ‘out of their element.’ ”

While I respect his making his case for why people should vote for him, we don’t need to reinforce inaccurate, harmful stereotypes about “we” who are aging (all of us) and our technological competence.

Unfortunately, many employers believe the same stereotypes and daily screen out older applicants based on the perception of age and the stereotype of technological incompetence being a natural part of aging. When employers do that, they lose out on leveraging an important element of our workforce shortage solution, the availability of valuable older workers and the power of multigenerational work teams. As we age, such stereotypes also result in the injustice of not being able to access economic opportunities and the loss of meaningful work.

Representing the oldest state in the country calls on our public servants to examine ageist beliefs and represent our state with age-positive messages.

Don Harden
Portland

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