Ages and what is acceptable

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Durandal
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Post by Durandal »

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:Driving age should be fifteen subject to passage of a comprehensive examine (which is actually hard enough that you can fail, so that some fifteen year olds can pass, but not the ones that shouldn't be driving, while the thirty year olds who remain a safety hazard can't drive either). Alcohol/cigarettes/other things like that should only be sold to those over the age of fifteen, with no limitation on consuming them - that should be up to parents for younger children, like it is in most European countries. The reason Americans have such problems with alcohol is that we're not used to it by the time we're adults.
Sounds reasonable. Kids cannot buy alcohol or cigarettes, but smoking and consuming is allowed.
Voting age should be twenty-five. That should also be the age for the draft (both male and female). Voting is an incredible responsibility and should only be given to someone about marginally mentally competent. About halfway through your mid-twenties is good enough. Most people who go to college have graduated by twenty-five, or those that haven't have decent life experience by then. As for the draft, the years between twenty-five and thirty are at one's physical prime and if we ever needed to institute it again that would be the ideal age to draft people at, anyway -

Bad idea. This will only piss off the 18-24 demographic because their interests won't matter, and they'll be totally unrepresented, and the age of 18 is the legal age of adulthood in the US. Once the law considers you an adult, you get all the responsibilities and rights/privileges of an adult.
Though I only support the draft in a declared war.


There will never be a declared war again (the last one was World War II), so good luck.

I see nothing wrong with a system in which minors can smoke and drink, but not actually buy those products. Hell, if you want to go big brother and let the parents make the choice, you could have each parent fill a consent form out if they want their under-18 child to be able to buy alcohol when the kid gets his driver's license or other ID. You could then stamp that information on the license, like Illinois licenses have "UNDER 21 UNTIL [DATE]" in a big red box above the picture. But once you hit 18, you're an adult, and you're able to do what you damn well please.
Damien Sorresso

"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
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