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Agreed on both points. Whatever is going wrong in society these days, lowered levels of voter maturity isn't the answer. That's not an old man's opinion, but

Agreed on both points. Whatever is going wrong in society these days, lowered levels of voter maturity isn't the answer. That's not an old man's opinion, but a former 16-year-old's.

xnx 1y ago
> lowered levels of voter maturity isn't the answer. In the US, I can see letting 16 year olds vote bring up the average level of "maturity". Older voters brains have been too cooked by watching decades of Fox News.
- CamperBob2 1y ago
  As a USian I can't say anything about the UK, but here, apathy seems to be at least a big a problem as immaturity. We re-elected a traitorous felon because people couldn't be bothered to vote for a candidate who didn't "inspire them." At some point we have to decide whether democracy is a means to an end -- a stable, peaceful, prosperous, just, and exemplary society -- or an end in itself. Lowering the voting age certainly serves the latter goal.
  - olddustytrail 1y ago
    This is for general elections in the UK overall. Scotland lowered the voting age to 16 for Scottish elections in 2016 (appropriately!) and Wales for Welsh elections in 2020. Both countries failed to fall apart from this measure :)
  - scarface_74 1y ago
    No they voted for him because he was and still is giving them exactly what they want. He is very much a reflection of a large part of America.
jkestner 1y ago
It’s not like most 16yos will vote. Getting them engaged is a good thing. Who among them will? I’d guess the most engaged and the most based (for lack of a better word), so probably not much difference from the current electorate, except that youth skews left.
- CamperBob2 1y ago
  except that youth skews left. That's one of those time-honored political truisms that turns out to be based on... not much of anything. Trump made massive inroads with younger voters this time around. It's all about outreach (and, in the US, Christian youth evangelism.) It's the stated goal of the American right(1) to dismantle public education precisely for that purpose. 1: https://civilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Project-2025-Education.pdf https://civilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Project-2...
  - jkestner 1y ago
    Good point, thank you. Maybe youth skews towards breaking the wheel. In any case, younger voters are not going to destroy democracy. They’re just another group to be swayed to Pokémon Go to the polls.

Agreed on both points. Whatever is going wrong in society these days, lowered levels of voter maturity isn't the answer. That's not an old man's opinion, but a former 16-year-old's.

xnx 1y ago

> lowered levels of voter maturity isn't the answer. In the US, I can see letting 16 year olds vote bring up the average level of "maturity". Older voters brains have been too cooked by watching decades of Fox News.

CamperBob2 1y ago
As a USian I can't say anything about the UK, but here, apathy seems to be at least a big a problem as immaturity. We re-elected a traitorous felon because people couldn't be bothered to vote for a candidate who didn't "inspire them." At some point we have to decide whether democracy is a means to an end -- a stable, peaceful, prosperous, just, and exemplary society -- or an end in itself. Lowering the voting age certainly serves the latter goal.
- olddustytrail 1y ago
  This is for general elections in the UK overall. Scotland lowered the voting age to 16 for Scottish elections in 2016 (appropriately!) and Wales for Welsh elections in 2020. Both countries failed to fall apart from this measure :)
- scarface_74 1y ago
  No they voted for him because he was and still is giving them exactly what they want. He is very much a reflection of a large part of America.

jkestner 1y ago

It’s not like most 16yos will vote. Getting them engaged is a good thing. Who among them will? I’d guess the most engaged and the most based (for lack of a better word), so probably not much difference from the current electorate, except that youth skews left.

CamperBob2 1y ago
except that youth skews left. That's one of those time-honored political truisms that turns out to be based on... not much of anything. Trump made massive inroads with younger voters this time around. It's all about outreach (and, in the US, Christian youth evangelism.) It's the stated goal of the American right(1) to dismantle public education precisely for that purpose. 1: https://civilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Project-2025-Education.pdf https://civilrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Project-2...
- jkestner 1y ago
  Good point, thank you. Maybe youth skews towards breaking the wheel. In any case, younger voters are not going to destroy democracy. They’re just another group to be swayed to Pokémon Go to the polls.