Posted on 08/26/2008 7:21:38 AM PDT by AJKauf
GT Vander, I honestly believe that 99% of 18 year-olds are too stupid to vote and most definitely too stupid to enter into a contract to buy a vehicle or a house. (And that *includes* people in the military.) Both of those decisions have serious consequences.
What I object to is the double standard in all areas. If you're old enough to make the decision to enter a covenant of marriage, then you're old enough to drink. If you're old enough to go to an adult prison, you're old enough to drink. If you're old enough to make the decision to finance a car, then you're old enough to drink.
I was in the Marines with a bunch of 18 year olds. That is a very nice thought to have, but why would a sane person join the Marine Corps? I can't say I met a lot of young Marines with anything resembling sense. I don't even think the Marines want kids with sense.
“If 18 is an adult, then let the adult drink. If 18 is not an adult, then you can’t let them vote or throw them in adult prison.”
“Bingo.”
YEAH! And they shouldn’t have to pay adult admission prices to go to the movies, and shouldn’t be allowed to see “R-rated” movies without an adult.
Absolutely not. It's always possible to find someone over 21 to buy you alcohol. As far as buying alcohol directly, that's pretty rare, most places will check for ID.
Only if he takes on the responsibilties of wearing the uniform!
A 17 year old enlisted private is a man yet a 20 year old college student is still a boy or youth.
I'm not sure I see why we should make the distinction. In terms of being considered adult enough to drink, I don't see any reason to distinguish between an 18 year old in the service, and an 18 year-old entering college, or working in construction.
I’d go with that. Show a military ID, you’re good to go.
I agree reform is needed. Lower the drinking age to 18, but raise the right to vote age to 21 for all college students. Only members of the military and those working full time should have the right to vote before age 21.
College students seem to handle their drinking better than they handle their political activities and voting, and might even top high school students when it comes to following fads. People living in an idealized setting with little real responsibility are not in the best position to make political decisions and should not have the right to vote until they are nearer the time when they assume more adult responsibilities.
One final point on this.
When I was on active duty and 19, they lowered the age to 18.
We blew it.
Let’s just do it the hard way. Psychological evaluations of anyone wanting to purchase alcohol. If they show no predisposition to alcoholism, and can handle it in a safe and reasonable manner, then we give them a license to purchase.
We also make it a Class A felony to purchase or provide to someone not found “suitable”.
In the meantime, Winston Smith is over in the corner, out of view of the screen, writing in his diary...but in the end, he loved Big Brother.
(/irony, /wit, /humor)
We now return you to your regular post.
They usually check ID for anybody who ‘appears’ (under the age of 30 in the clerk’s estimation). The establishment’s liquor license is tied to how well they perform this routine.
The only recourse is to have someone purchase the alcohol for you. It’s illegal, but much harder to police.
while i am all for people being able to destroy themselves, when it begins to affect me i have a problem with it. people say weed is a victimless crime. wrong. same with DWI.
you want to get hammered, fine. i do sometimes. but you cross the line when you put me and my family in danger by being unable to drive a car safely.
my only point is that if you let 18, 19, and 20 year olds drink, they will inevitably drive and cause more fatalities than occur now.
the drinking age as it stands does have some sort of deterrent effect.
and incidentally, any state is free to lower the drinking age whenever they'd like. jefferson would approve of that. so why don't the states do that?
It's kinda amazing that those who realize that banning guns only prevents law-abiding citizens from owning guns turn around and can't see that banning alcohol only keeps responsible drinkers from drinking. If we want our young people to act like adults, treating them as such would be a might good place to start.
There *is* no reasoning around it, but don't expect that to carry much weight. You can't reason people out of a position they weren't reasoned in to.
Most Americans like freedom when people choose things they agree with (serving in the military, marriage), but don't like freedom when people choose things they don't like (drinking, smoking, free speech that hurts feelings). Accepting that freedom means the right to make good *and* bad choices is a concept that goes against human nature, and a lot of people are afraid of freedom because of it.
My son, who is in the Marines, recently got married before his 21st birthday. He couldn’t legally drink at his own wedding. He also could not rent or drive a rental truck to move his and his new bride’s belongings to North Carolina. My husband had to rent the truck for him and drive the truck all the way to NC (about 1,100 miles)without any break from driving from my son or his new wife, who also was under 21.
But my son can shoot a rifle with the best of them. (He is an expert marksman). Just can’t drive a rental truck.
When you consider how much hard physical labor that people performed in the 1800’s, add-in the early onset of arthritis & the relative lack of basic pain-killers, is it really so surprising that people drank as much as they did?
Just throwin that out there...
This makes no sense- why should college students not be allowed to vote just because they are not working full-time? Why punish someone for getting an education?
People living in an idealized setting with little real responsibility are not in the best position to make political decisions and should not have the right to vote until they are nearer the time when they assume more adult responsibilities.
That's nonsense. College students generally have tons of responsibilities- classes, jobs on the side to help pay for expenses, extracurricular activities and internships to help expand your resume. When I was in college, I worked harder and had more demands on my time than my high school classmates who had started working right after graduation.
There seems to be this strange belief that college students sit around all day partying. Maybe that's true at some lesser schools like Arizona State or wherever, but college students at academically-oriented schools work their butts off, certainly moreso than their contempraries who left school after high school graduation.
IMO, there should be one age for:
* Buying cigarettes (some places in NY raised the age to 19)
* voting
* buying handguns (all firearms)
* consription (if we ever need it again)
* consent
* buying alcohol
(not in that order)
Either they’re all 18 or all 21. I don’t like creating half-citizens — the same goes for ex-cons. If we can’t give them back all of their rights then they should remain in prison.
Hahaha! Fair ‘nuff.
In the past, it was much easier for teenagers to buy alcohol than it is today.
Yes that’s very telling. It makes us almost seem...conservative.
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