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Because at 18 people are responsible for their own actions, and restricting them after that is unreasonable and contrary to personal freedom. There's a consist
by awkward 3y ago
Because at 18 people are responsible for their own actions, and restricting them after that is unreasonable and contrary to personal freedom.
There's a consistent factoid going around that brains aren't done developing until the age of 25. It's frequently used as an argument to restrict young people.
Looking at performance by age in fields like math and music, declining brain plasticity seems more like a reason to implement the carousel from Logan's Run
- dotnet00 3y agoMight as well raise the age of majority to 25, if the brain isn't finished developing they're obviously incapable of handling personal freedom!
- CSMastermind 3y agoI'd unironically support raising the voting age in the US to 25. I was an idiot when I was 18 and had no business picking a leader of any kind. There's something to be said for waiting until people have actual life experience.
- vsnf 3y agoI have the opposite take you have. There should be no restriction on voting age at all. Everyone possesses the right to have a say in the direction of the government that governs them.
- 2024throwaway 3y agoRiiiight. Because four year olds have a strong grasp on current events and deserve a say, and totally wouldn’t just become an extra vote for whomever their parents are voting for.
- vsnf 3y agoYep, I understand the practical issues with my position. But I can’t ethically condone saying “you have no voice” to a fellow citizen, so I prefer no restrictions.
- 2024throwaway 3y agoI can’t ethically say that policy should be decided by people whose primary concern is the frequency of nap and snack time.
- jl6 3y agoThere are plenty of unethical outcomes available in the "let babies vote" scenario, to weigh against the allegedly-unethical scenario of having a voting age.
- vsnf 3y agoIndeed there are. There are many hills I’ll die on, and while this isn’t one of them, I do find it deeply uncomfortable to so clearly deny a whole category of citizens representation.
- jl6 3y agoWhy so uncomfortable though? We routinely stop children doing all kinds of things, for exactly the same reason (lack of maturity in decision-making).
- kelseyfrog 3y agoMaybe that's an opportunity to reevaluate those restrictions rather than make the argument that because restrictions exist that one is as good as another. It's about as logical as saying, "we put people in jail, therefore it's ok that you go to jail." The nuance and reasoning is the point.
- 3y ago
- dotnet00 3y agoYou aren't going to gain life experience before the age if you keep raising the age of being allowed to live life to match that age. I know you're specifically referring to voting age, but just making a general observation on how everyone seems to only want to keep increasing these various arbitrary age gates as if simply being older is all it takes. Have you guys all forgotten when you went through these points? I still distinctly remember how glaringly stupid I realized the world was when I had to take a waiver notice to my university dorm room and sign as my dad a few days before turning 18, and that just a few days later I'd be fine to sign it as myself, despite obviously not changing much in a few days. Either way I had been living at a university thousands of miles from my parents for nearly 2 years and had said as much, so it was a farce all around. Similarly with turning 21 and being allowed to drink.
- keybored 3y agoObviously the US needs more mature voters. To match the very mature leaders (“”) who are so mature that they have symptoms of senility or die on the job while their helpers vote for them.
- adrr 3y agoShould we put age limit on voting? 70 doesn’t have the brain functionality of an 18 year old. Why they are very susceptible to fraud because of cognitive decline.
- smileysteve 3y agoI think we should limit voting to those who block ads!
- patrickmay 3y agoI support that idea because I think you should be in the work force and experience both taxation and laws personally before voting on them.
- itishappy 3y agoBelieve it or not, our laws apply to children too! Other government programs that can affect children include schools, roads, libraries, healthcare, welfare... They're personally affected by a lot of political stuff. While we're at it, why should adults be the ones deciding how the public school system works? It's been more than 10 years since I was in school, I doubt my experience is still relevant.
- renewiltord 3y agoPersonally, I think we should set the voting age to 35 and cut off everyone above 37. It’s too risky to let the old or young vote. We can raise both thresholds by one per year to account for inflation.
- rchaud 3y agoIn that case most of Congress should recuse themselves from voting on abortion bills considering they've been shooting blanks and having hot flashes since the 90s. That you were not fully informed when you voted at 18 is not a reason to restrict the rights of others who are. Or aren't. Who's to say a 25yo is somehow any better prepared to vote? It's not like they were asked to pass a civics test first.
- kccoder 3y agoPlenty of "idiots" outside the age range of 18-25, should we restrict them as well? How would we determine who is qualified to vote? Any other rights provided by the constitution you'd like to alter while we're at it? What other responsibilities available 18-25 year olds would you like to restrict? The draft, driving a vehicle, taking out loans, ...? Perhaps they shouldn't be allowed to choose their own clothing, what food they eat, ...
- joezydeco 3y agoWhat's the drinking age in Florida?
- flanbiscuit 3y ago> What's the drinking age in Florida? The drinking age in all 50 states is 21 thanks in most part to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_... In Florida it was raised to 21 in 1986: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._history_of_alcohol_minimum_purchase_age_by_state https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._history_of_alcohol_minimu... In Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands it's still 18
- e_i_pi_2 3y ago> Because at 18 people are responsible for their own actions This is only because we arbitrarily picked an age - we used to consider people responsible for their own actions at much younger ages, it makes sense to change the number when we get new science supporting that. If the argument is that we shouldn't use brain development as a reason to restrict young people, then why not lower the drinking age again or get rid of it?
- joezydeco 3y agoThis right here. Seems like the USA is all about arbitrary rules, isn't it? You can join the military and drive a tank into war at 18, but god forbid we let you have a beer afterward.
- jstarfish 3y ago[dead]
- awkward 3y agoScience has discovered that the age of 25 is when neuroplasticity starts to decline. So what? There's a lot of argumentation needed to link that physical threshold with legal restriction. It seems like you're arguing that people shouldn't fully participate in society until they start losing their ability to learn. Have you met people who've lived overly sheltered lives until the age of 25? Their tolerance towards risk is low. Their ability to adapt to new experiences is busted. Forcing that on a society wide scale would be nuts. The science does throw in a lot of complexity between the social ideas of freedom and the physical effects of alcohol. But have you met 18 year olds? They're drinking.
- FireBeyond 3y agoThere's also the issue of life expectancy. In the US, for males? 77 years. Now we're basically saying "For the first third of your life, we're going to dictate a lot of what you can't do".
- bufio 3y ago
- kjkjadksj 3y agoWhy let someone who isn’t responsible for their own actions drive a car then, or have a checking account.
- throw0101b 3y ago> Why let someone who isn’t responsible for their own actions drive a car then, or have a checking account. In many jurisdictions you cannot do those things without adult supervision.
- kjkjadksj 3y agoYou can drive without an adult at 16 everywhere in the US. No minimum age to own a long gun either I believe.
- awkward 3y agoThat’s because of Ralph Nader and the FDIC, obviously.
- rchaud 3y agoYou are legally required to have auto insurance for exactly this reason. As for banking, there are limits on overdraft fees, also written into law because people are not always responsible with money regardless of age.
- ijijijjij 3y agoThey try people as adults before they turn 18