71% of Democrats oppose giving adults the right to drink alcohol...

[BolivarianHero]

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/43522/two-thirds-of-americans-oppose-lowering-the-drinking-age/

Funny...It works fine in Europe.

Are my fellow DUers smarter and more world-wise than the average Democrat or Repuke?

[marmar]

1. True. If you can vote and get blown to bits in some unnecessary war at 18.....

..... you ought to be able to legally enjoy a glass of Beaujolais.

[hobbit709]

2. Once upon a time you could.

But then I never paid much attention to what the Morality Police types told me to do or not to do.

[BolivarianHero]

3. Why are Americans so repulsed by this?

I think it's common sense to let 18 year-olds drink and to let teens drink while supervised with their parents. Most societies that use this model have lower rates of alcoholism and drunk driving than the U.S. does.

[marmar]

4. Yep. I've noticed that people in France and Spain don't drink to get drunk, but to enjoy....

.... a meal or an event, including young people. But here, there's some 'badge of honor' among young people to get as pissy drunk as possible. I think the "taboo" factor encourages this kind of silliness.

[Tansy_Gold]

8. I agree 100%.

Drinking alcohol was considered socially acceptable in my family for everyone, and we children were taught to treat it with respect and enjoyment. A weak Bacardi cocktail -- light on the rum, heavy on the grenadine (when it really was grenadine and not colored HFCS) -- or cuba libre became standard fare at family gatherings for us youngsters from an early age and not one of us went on to become binge drinkers.

I think it's remarkably stupid -- and puritan -- to think that at 20 years and 364 days of age one is too immature to drink but the very next day that person will miraculously responsible.



TG, NTY

[madokie]

9. I was a to get drunk drinker

sure happy that I've quit that. Five years ago I would have said there was no way in hell I'd ever be able to quit drinking but once I really tried I found it to be relatively easy.

[Crystal Clarity]

12. Me too.

And I was a heavy drinker for many years.

I think the OP and several of the replies are spot on. I grew up in a strict religious fundie household which for me was the beginning of wanting everything I was not 'supposed' to have... even to my own detriment. I think things work similarly here in America with alcohol. A certain percentage of teens and young adults are bound to be curious about forbidden things and many of them are going to overindulge as a way to rebel.

Europe has this one right.

[madokie]

13. Oh I agree

When I graduated from high school in '66 I don't remember ever hearing the word marijuana. When I got to navy book camp and all the films and lectures they gave us on the reasons why we don't want to try it only made me wonder what the hell am I missing. the first chance I got to smoke some weed I took it and I've smoked now for 41 plus years. The stupidity of reefer madness done it for me, after that I just had to try it.

Only through pot being illegal made it so that I would associate with tweakers, downers etc. I got to know some of them at their and my connections as many times they would be one and the same. Sell weed, got some pills or powder too you know.

war on drugs is a bust

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. Then you don't have alcoholism. Alcoholics get brutal urges. -nt

[madokie]

21. Thats good to know

40 years of drinking and I wasn't an alcoholic. :-)
I guess that explains my not having withdrawals or it's an indication of a strong will power

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

29. That misconception makes alcoholics' lives much more miserable than they have to be.

It's not "weak willpower" or "lack of moral fiber", it's an organic condition, similar to an allergy.

Sadly, too many people perpetuate the misconception out of a necessity to feel superior.

[madokie]

30. what are you talking about?

are you telling me I didn't drink for 40 plus years, didn't quit cold turkey with out serious side effects cause if it is you're full of shit. :hi:

I know three others who've done the same thing these last few years with pretty much the same story as me

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

34. No, I completely believe you. The misconception is that all those who can't quit...

...are weak-willed. They aren't, they have alcoholism as a biochemical disorder.

[notesdev]

6. I have family in Italy

Kids get their first taste of alcohol as young as five years of age. There is no "forbidden fruit" mystique to it, it just is what it is. As a result of learning early how to deal with its effects and a lack of prohibition, alcoholism is nearly unheard of in that country.

[Tsiyu]

22. My dad is Italian

His mom - my grandma - used to give us kids a little taste of Annisette while she and my aunts played pinochle.

There was often wine at dinner which we could sample.

None of we three siblings ever developed alcoholism. All three of us drink only occasionally - at a social function or wedding or funeral.

[Nikia]

17. I live in WI where a lot of people drink and start young

It is legal for parents to take children to bars and let them drink. Drunk driving and overall alcoholism is one of the the highest in the nation. I did not grow up in state and came from a non drinking family. Most of my coworkers and aquaintances I know with alcohol problems grew up in drinking families. I don't think that this prevents alcoholism.

[maxsolomon]

33. nothing can "prevent" alcoholism

& your anecdotal observations do not disprove other's.

for some, being taught to use alcohol responsibly by relatives from a young age can reduce or prevent the harm that abuse of alcohol causes our society. for others, who's relatives may model abusive use of the drug rather than responsible use, not so much.

[Unvanguard]

20. Raise the enlistment age.

I'm not sure voting is in the same category, though.

[Lasher]

26. I couldn't agree more.

I was drafted when I was 20 but couldn't vote. The 26th Amendment came along later and fixed that by making the voting age 18. Good. Now if you're old enough to serve, you're old enough to vote.

In most states you could buy beer in those days when you were 18 but not hard liquor until you were 21. Then Mothers Against Drunk Driving decided that you shouldn't be able to drink any alcoholic beverages until you're 21. They were able to make it so, I believe in every state, by getting the federal government to withold highway funding from states that did not comply. That's just plain wrong.

[TheKentuckian]

5. Lots of Republicrat conservatives

[Upton]

7. Let them drink all they want..

but I don't trust their judgment, particularly when it comes to drinking and driving. So, increase the penalties for an under 21 DUI..

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. How is the same act at 22 deserving of less punishment?

[emulatorloo]

10. So do 70% of Republicans, per your survey

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Your thread headline is quite misleading. And it's wrong.

That said, I agree with your other comments - a 21 drinking age is just silly. Take it back to 18.

[BolivarianHero]

14. It's provocative, but misleading?

That most Republicans would be willing to needlessly restrict the civil liberties of young adults is hardly exciting (and interestingly the proportion of Republicans who disagree is similar to the proportion that voted for Prop 19 in California...Libertarians, moderates, and the odd country club type is my guess.), as it's consistent with the authoritarian conservatism that has characterized the GOP since at least the days of Nixon and the Southern Strategy. That most Democrats would is much more intriguing.

It is often said that reality has a left-wing bias, and looking at the statistics on alcoholism in continental Europe and contrasting it with those of the Anglosphere is one of many consequences of this liberal bias, a fact of which liberals and Democratic moderates ought to be aware. Similarly, that communist countries both wealthy and impoverished have almost always had much higher literacy rates and much better women's rights records than Islamic countries where Washington intervened in favour of fundamentalism to prevent leftist revolutions. If Pakistan and Afghanistan had gone red, everyone in the West, the Middle East, and South-Western Asia would be better off save those who profit off of the military-industrial complex. That some "liberals" preferred General Zia and the Mujahideen to First Secretary Brezhnev and Fidel Castro is embarrassing as fuck.

[Warren DeMontague]

18. Agree, That's a misleading presentation. The poll is about lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18.

Yes, 18 year olds are "adults" but there is a range in our society of various (including legal) rites of passage- ranging from drivers licenses at 16, to the ability to rent a car, usually 25. You can't be President if you're under 35.

Also, the old "you can fight and die for your country" line made a lot more sense when there was still a draft. Yes, you can volunteer and go and fight, but it's not exactly the same deal. You can also volunteer when you're younger, with your parents' permission, unless I'm mistaken.

When I was 19, I thought the 21 year old drinking age was the most ludicrous thing ever. Now, I'm not so sure. Go figure.

[Unvanguard]

19. Two-thirds of Americans are right. If anything, the drinking age should be raised.

We should, however, get better public transit, like Europe.

[BlueIris]

25. Good luck.

Every time I post that I think people need to either drink less or consider not drinking at all, 'cause alcohol actually is bad for you like other drugs are, I get massively flamed.

[apocalypsehow]

23. Agreed - the drinking age should be whatever age one is eligible to be drafted/join the military.

All the pseudo-scientific babble about the "developing brains" of teenagers 18+, is just that: babble.

[Douglas Carpenter]

24. for me - the main problems is that the automobile dependency of America

creates a situation whereby most people who go to drink in a bar usually drive there and then drive away from there later. Also the nature of a bar in continental Europe or pub in the UK or Ireland is very different than the nature of the majority of bars in America. When you combine both the common driving behavior of 18 to 21 year-olds with alcohol and the American approach to alcohol - we end up with a situation whereby lowering the drinking age will in fact mean at least a few thousand and perhaps several thousands more deaths per year of people in that particular age group.

I remember very will when the drinking age in New York State was 18 and the leading cause of death among 18 to 20 years-old was from road traffic accidents that would not have occurred but for the influence of alcohol.

If we were a less car dependent culture like most of Europe - and we had a more European cultural attitude toward alcohol and lowering the drinking age did not mean a sudden increase in fatal accidents among those in that age group - I would certainly support it.

[DainBramaged]

28. Less car dependent than Europe

If if if if if. But we're not. So find another solution.

[Ted_White]

27. Just lower it to 18

[ncteechur]

31. Well I think you should be able to vote at 16, but I don't think you should go into battle until

21 (although you should be able to sign up at 18.) And I don't think an 18 year old is mature enough to drink.

[maxsolomon]

32. Americans are thoroughly propagandized and petrified

drinking age should be far lower, like 16, or nonexistent. children need to be TAUGHT how to drink under adult supervision from a young age; a sip of wine here and there, a glass of champagne on special occasions. not thrown in the deep end as they are now, to learn by blackouts, vomiting, alcohol poisoning and DUIs.

what percentage of those surveyed had alcohol before they were 21? 99.99? a nation of chickenshit puritan hypocrites.