Posted on 08/26/2008 7:21:38 AM PDT by AJKauf
Our government trusts an 18-year-old to defend our country against its enemies, but does not trust us to consume alcohol at the same age?Perhaps he has a point. When I was in college and the drinking age was 18, there was a pub on campus where students would gather and drink and listen to live music. When I went back to college later on and the drinking age was 21, drinking had become a surreptitious thing; students were hoarding alcohol and drinking as much as they could in as short period of time as possible in order to get drunk before getting caught. That’s not to say students weren’t binge drinking before the age change; just that they are doing it more often.
Maybe that’s not as much the fault of the drinking age laws as it is our views on alcohol in this country....
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
And if memory serves you can be fighting for your country at 17. I don't see anyone advocating drinking for them.
I also agree with you. Under 21 can drink on base. When I first got to my tech school in CA, if you ordered dinner at a restaurant, they would serve you. Walk in to a bar, not a chance.
We would go to a place in Monterey called the Captain’s Gig on fisherman’s wharf. We would order huge plates of fried calimari and pitchers of Anchor Steam Beer. That was my first taste of REAL beer. Never went back to Bud!
18 for all... period.
Making an exception for those in the military only feeds the MSM beast of “Teenagers Joining the Military To Drink” & “The Military Is Filling Its Ranks With Of Young Alcoholics” etc, etc, etc
Unless 18-year-old drinker wannabees go through a similarly rigorous training regimen re alcohol, its effects, and how to behave re drinking, they should have no more right to drink than an untrained civilian kid does to go into combat.
here is the best solution....allow people in the military under 21 to drink alcohol on base in the enlisted club....
Of course, the temperance movement was a reaction to the widespread alcoholism that pervaded the US in the 1800s.
I remember reading a work on social history that pointed out that US consumption of hard liquor in the 1840s was more than 17 gallons per capita - in an age when hard liquor was usually 120-150 proof than 80-100 proof.
That's about five or six shots of Jack Daniels every day.
The alcohol consumption by teenagers in the 1800s US is staggering by today's standards - no one thought twice about a 14 year old ranchhand drinking a fifth of whiskey on a weeknight as long as he crawled into work the next day.
The pendulum has now swung entirely the other way.
This reminds me of that stupid John Sally comment where he said it’s wrong that you couldn’t enter the NBA at 18 but you could serve in the military. The rule is meant to protect college basketball just as the 21 rule is meant to protect teenagers and communities.
That's the way it works in the UK.
If you're sixteen and go into a restaurant for a meal, you can have a pint with your entree.
Go to the pub across the street and order a pint, very different situation.
just a question to americans. is it really that hard to get alcohol if you are under 21? i have made the experience (here in europe) that most kids if they are 14 or 15 do have no problems to buy alcohol. just go to the supermarket and buy it. if they really deny you (which happens only rare) well walk a view hundret meters to the next one. they will sell you.
“It is always good to keep ourselves in flocks, rather than alone in a wilderness.” That is just lovely.
I understand your point. I see that I think I was mature enough to handle it at 18, now I see just young kids. I go into a bar now and see a 21 year old and say, “No way that kid is legal!”
How is the world did these two concepts get tied together? How about, if a kid’s old enough to cut the grass he should be allowed to sleep in front of the tv? Or, if you pay taxes you should be allowed to vote?
We repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. Its makes no more sense, but yet here we are.
Drinking is not good for you, folks. Its not a treat that should be doled out for deserving recipients. The less drinking we have the better.
And, every alcoholic I know started drinking in high school.
This is one of my pet gripes, if you are old enough to serve in the military you should be old enough to drink!! We need to either lower the drinking age for everyone or I do think some on this thread have a great idea to allow drinking at 18 with military ID. I would go for that, great solution.
My son-in-law is in the military, is 19 and is deploying soon. It gripes me that he cannot legally have a beer with his pizza or a drink with dinner when we go out. Until recently he could drink on post, but the drinking age on post was raised because of community complaints or whatever.
1) There are 18 y.o. in High School still. Do we really want them to be taking off at lunch, bypassing McDonalds and stopping at 7-11 for a quick six pack on the drive back. Plus the likelihood of underage kids now more likely to get someone to buy for them. I foresee a rise in alcohol related deaths.
2) Back when I was in college, I knew many 22 or 23 y.o.'s who were binge drinking. Age does not stop binge drinking.
3) While I understand the old argument that an 18 y.o. can carry a machine gun but cannot frink a beer with his buddies, the 18 y.o. in the service tends to be much more mature and disciplined than if he were off at school. IOW, I think the college kid is more likely to abuse the drinking than the soldier. And IIRC, an 18 y.o. soldier can drink with his buddies, but the content is much lower (near-beer). and finally...
4) If the college Presidents see drunken students as a major concern, why open the floodgates? Where is the logic that says they'll stop? IOW: Why throw kerosene on a fire?
I don't agree. I've got a 19 year old military wife staying with me for a couple of days. Her husband is in Iraq and she's dealing with everything that every other army wife is dealing with. Trust me, this is an *adult* life.
According to the law, she can't have a glass of wine at the end of a terrible day.
It mystified me at that age why I could get married but couldn't have a wine cooler.
Bingo.
no, it's not perfect, but introducing 3 more ages to drinking could cause a lot of problems.
By my own choice, I have lived over 70 years without drinking.
IMHO, 18-year-olds (and I have observed my own three kids at that age) are mentally, emotionally, and experientially unprepared to handle the responsibilities of drinking; and 21-year-olds are little better prepared...
Look at the auto accident statistics (both with and without alcohol involvement) by age...
I rest my case.
“sorry but do you get rigorous training about drinking when you are 21? “
Yes, 10 sets of 10 on the Keg Stand, 15 rounds of beer pong and finally a beer funnel! Then run 1 mile!
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