American Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has suggested that all candidates over the age of seventy-five running for political office should undergo a mandatory mental competence test. It was my husband who brought this gem to my attention—the same over seventy-five-year-old guy who asks me several times a day what day it is!

Now, we all know that implementing such a policy is not only ageist but scientifically flawed. There are various cognitive tests available and even the time of day in which they are administered can affect the results. That, combined with the assumption that anyone would have to be crazy to run for public office in the first place is probably the reason why so many self-serving egotists take up the challenge.

Haley’s radical proposal has brought to light another perhaps more important consideration. Has the time finally come when men and their entire nuanced gender should never be allowed to run for public office? We have all witnessed the shitty job they’ve done over the course of history in managing world affairs—wars, crime, pandemics, poverty, erosion of women’s rights—you get the picture.

Apart from being unable to make the world a better place, they have displayed a number of other characteristics that deem them totally unsuitable for any kind of responsibility, particularly public office. Here are just a few examples of men being incapable of managing even life’s basic skills:

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  A grocery list is comparable to an agenda or an economic plan and men are incapable of sticking to the plan. When they enter a grocery store or, worse, Costco, their brains turn to mush. Even though they were sent to the store with a list that clearly states three items only—milk, bread, and romaine lettuce—they return home with a trunk full of sugary donuts, bags of Doritos and Ruffles, and enormous jars of salsa and pickled who-knows-what. The sight of all those treats on display for the taking renders them absolutely stupid. It’s no wonder they can’t stick to lists of campaign promises like reducing crime, raising taxes on the rich, or ending war.

• Men have no sense of direction. Before GPS made navigation somewhat easier, their refusal to consult a map or ask for assistance when they were lost is proof positive that ego outranks common sense. Even now they second-guess GPS directions and insist their destination is at the next left turn instead of waiting until the GPS fairy says, “Turn left now!”. Who and where is Kazakstan? Are they on our missile radar?
• Any woman who has fallen backside first into the toilet in the middle of the night knows men cannot be trusted with even the simplest instructions. If they can’t remember to put the toilet seat down, how on earth are they going to remember that health care and seniors’ housing are important issues that need immediate attention?

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  We all know that men are hopeless with household budgets and should never be given free rein to manage gajillions of tax dollars. They question our purchase of those beautifully soft red leather summer sandals we bought but do not think twice about dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a mid-life crisis red sports car or NASA-designed golf clubs. Their follies cost far more than ours.

• Everything in the life of men is a sports analogy—home run, tackle the quarterback, score, win, and body check. Instead of, Put the kettle on so we can have a nice talk, they line up on opposing sides and bang their helmeted heads together. Nothing positive gets accomplished with that kind of approach and they only end up with their brains being even further scrambled.
• Men are not mothers. I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again. Women would never send their husbands, sons, brothers, or friends to war unless it was in retaliation for an assault. Even Margaret Thatcher only entered the Falklands war because her charges were attacked.

So, while I’ve never been a fan of Nikki Haley, I do think it is time women ruled the world. Consider what happened in Iceland a few years ago. The country was broke. The 2008 crash brought to light the incredible greed and mismanagement of the Icelandic economy by their largely male government. The men were voted out, the women took over and solvency, common sense, and equality returned. Read about it here.

Let’s hope more qualified, common-sense women run for politics. It’s a tough world and harder for women in a male-dominated world, but it’s time to once and for all put things right. Old white guys do not have a monopoly on leadership regardless of their predominance. The bar has crashed to the ground and society has gone sideways over the last few years. It’s time for some smart management, new perspectives, and humane policies. Who is up for the job?