We can send kids off to war so why can't they vote and drink?

[Old_Fart]

Discuss :hi:

[eallen]

1. The only reason the drinking age is 21, is that the driving age is 16.

I think we ought to reverse that.

:hippie:

[YOY]

2. What is the youngest possible for the military? 18 right?

Same as the vote.

As for drinking...how many of use listen to the law? (and how many of us outgrow binge drinking before 21?)

[SoCalifer]

16. It's 17yrs old.

Back when I was in the Army I joined at 17, its still the same today. At 17 you need your parents to sign too, and at 18 you don't.




.

[Journeyman]

3. Um. 18 year olds have the right to vote. . .

and when I was in the service -- under 21 -- I could drink on base. Only 3.2 beer, but it was available from a soda can dispenser in the dorms.

[Boredtodeath]

4. Been here, done this

The drinking age was lowered (using this same argument) during the Vietnam war.

It was a miserable failure because 18 yr. olds weren't mature enough NOT to buy the booze for 15 yr. olds. Alcohol related deaths of young people skyrocketed.

[ChiciB1]

10. DITTO... I Remember The Exact Same Thing!

Not that I agreed with sending 17 & 18 years olds to Viet Nam either!

Many of my friends got drafted & shafted!!! Many NEVER came HOME!!!!

[bama65]

19. 17 year olds are non deployable

i am deploying to iraq and if a soldier is 17 he can not go

[MaineDem]

20. Be safe...and welcome to DU!

Remember, it's he or she. :)

Again...keep your head down. And thanks for your service.

[T Town Jake]

12. Oh, that's horseshit...

...and is something one would expect to hear on the Old Time Gospel Hour, with Jerry Falwell officiating...

[blondeatlast]

13. Citation for that tidbit? Until you can offer some, it's BS to me. nt

[Old_Fart]

5. Should they push the enlistment age up to 21?

I think that 18 is too young to make the kind of decisions that has to be made on the battlefield.

[noamnety]

8. That's my opinion as well

At 18, the last bit of critical thinking supposedly isn't fully developed yet. I think it's too young to make battlefield decisions, as well as too young to fully realize the impact of the decision to enlist.

[Old_Fart]

14. "Training prior to turning 21"

There have been studies conducted on critical thinking and decision making. Eighteen is too young!

[Yupster]

15. If that's true, then

shouldn't the voting age be raised too?

[T Town Jake]

6. In the early 1980's...

...Senator Lautenberg from New Jersey got a law passed which cut off all federal highway funds for states that did not raise their drinking age to 21. Reagan signed it.

The law is ridiculous, but it was bipartisan. There is your answer.

[noamnety]

7. The brain is still developing at 18

There is a spurt of neural (dendrite) growth between the ages of 18-20. The physiological reasons for delaying drinking may outweigh anything else.

[Iris]

9. Which is also why it's easier to convince them to become canon fodder.

[kenny blankenship]

22. People say we only use one tenth of our brains,

I say we only use one tenth of our livers.

[Benhurst]

11. Because they are too young to drink. Nobody is too young

to die for the Bush Crime Family.

[tritsofme]

17. When I have had the occasion to speak with politicians

This is a question I love to ask, just to see their reaction and BS politico response.

If you trust my nephew to serve and defend his country in the Armed Forces, who do you not trust him to enjoy a cold beer?

[Neshanic]

18. The new liberal Puritans. When the war is in it's 9th year...

Then the Vietnam effect/paradox will be apparent to them.

Your nephew has every right to drink if he is old enough to fight for this country.

The law that lowered it was swept back in this our lurch towards the right, and a long period of relative peace and calm give s everyone amnesia.

[kenny blankenship]

21. If they could vote it wouldn't be so easy to send them to war

If they could drink, they wouldn't be such excellent killers.

How are we going to run the global plantation without sharp-eyed cannon fodder/killing machines?