So, am I saying young people ought to smoke when we know the likely terrible health and economic consequences in advance? No. I’m saying if a citizen is old enough to die fighting for his country, he’s old enough to make life decisions. I’m saying power-motivated rule unbound by restraints has always been the greatest author of human misery and death. Always. I'm saying every loosening of Constitutional chains moves our government closer to the tyranny foreseen by the Framers when they ratified the Second Amendment. [More]
Can there be anything more insidious than "For the children"? If we continue to allow the government to put restraints on us rather than accept the ones the Constitution puts on it, recognition of our rights will go up in smoke.
4 comments:
Ah yes, government meddling once again to fix a non-problem. When I was young, the drinking age was 18, thanks mostly to the Viet Nam War. The youth of that era successfully argued that if they were old enough to die for their country, they oughta be able to consume adult beverages. In the 80's, that was incrementally raised until it hit 21 as it is today. My wife and I were always well ahead of the age limit. As a side note, we got served at the bar for my senior prom. No one was carded, but just about everyone was 18 so no one cared.
Apparently the youth of yesterday are now the nannies of today. So go die for your country, just don't drink or smoke like your fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers did.
I've never agreed with the argument that says at 18 one can: enter a legal contract, Vote in an election and die for your country but you not apparently smart enough to decide to have alcohol, smoke a cigarette or buy a handgun.
It's one or the other, if you are smart enough to vote and enter into legal contracts, you should be able to do all the other things.
However, if one is not smart enough until 21 to buy a gun or have a drink, they they shouldn't be able to vote, join the military or enter a contract until 21.
Unless of course one is progressive, then you should be able to vote at 16 and never do any of the other things...
Because youths today are too immature, senseless, and ignorant to think for themselves and act in a responsible manner, we need to:
Raise the smoking age to 21.
Raise the gun buying age to 25.
Raise the voting age to 16.
No, wait...
I have always thought the same. If you are an adult at eighteen years of age, can engage in contracts, responsible for your actions, subject to being conscripted, then there can be no such thing as a drinking age of twenty-one.
"Congratulations Son! You're a liberated adult now. You can vote, engage in contracts, enlist in the military... except we don't really mean it. You cannot buy yourself a beer or a handgun, because you're still a kid."
Otherwise, raise the age of legal majority to twenty-one and be done with it. It has to be one way or the other.
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