RIGHT NOW YOU'RE IN THE WORLD'S SECOND OLDEST WAR

Everyone knows the epic war between man and woman. Started with that first bitten apple. But a close second is the equally epic war between youth and age. That one started the first time a son beat his father. Each has been raging ever since, a perennial subject for psychologists and poets alike.

Our latest example is 10 time All-Star slugger Ichiro Susuki. A career .322 hitter, Susuki is about to turn 39 with a slumping average of only .261. And yet the New York Yankees just paid big bucks for him. His success or failure with the Yankees isn't going to help settle the war. But it does help crystallize the argument. Between developed bodies and developed brains. Energy and experience. Blue-jeaned wunderkind from Silicon Valley and white-shirted elders from corporate America.

Now here's what makes the argument so important. For the first time in history, youth has never been more prized at the very same time age has never been so much older. In an fiercely rapid culture of iPads and smartPhones, only the young have the energy to keep pace. Consequently some economists argue whether youth can or should pay the heavy burdens of an aging population. Ethicists go further as they argue whether society can afford to keep the old and sick alive so long.

In the meantime, everyone else figures old-age is something "15-years older than me!"

There's a bottom line to this demographic war. Whether Susuki helps the Yankees win this year is not it. How old the world lets Susuki grow IS....