Interesting point of view. I think it should be relative to ones height.
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I’d like the idea of letting 16 year olds vote after they passed a civics class and a critical thinking class. They are going to inherit a shitstorm of debit and destroyed relationships with nations across the globe. Give them some genuine education and the respect to believe that they have a rightful say in the nation they will inherit.
And then there is this little bit. Fuck the lot of you who seem to think that being in our 70’s, 80’s or 90’s reduces our ability to see and call bullshit. We don’t all turn into rightwing hate mongers as we age. Actually I’ve realized a lot more freedom now in my 70’s because I don’t give a shit what a bunch of other people think. I will continue to read across a spectrum of ideas and make my decisions accordingly. I don’t care what end of the political spectrum you inhabit, you need to respect the fact that you are not going to take my rights away because of my age. Stereotyping assholes!
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No thanks. Unless we want to lower the things like entering into a contract at 16, being tried as an adult at 16, being drafted at 16, buying a gun at 16. I think there ought to be one age – 18 seems reasonable, although 21 would be fine, too – and which all legal rights and responsibilities attach. It’s an imperfect bright line, but unless we’re going to do a test or an obligation to meet public service (“Service Guarantees Citizenship!”), thank you no.
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Uh, that’s already the case in the majority of states.
In most places, children are literally legally prohibited from earning their own income. For good reasons, I might add.
I don’t disagree with you. I would argue that children should be taken from their parents and raised in creches, and if we had that kind of society, I wouldn’t be making the comments that I am. But we don’t live in a fully automated luxury socialist society, and in this society, parents are a breed of, at best, benign evil.
I want to stress: my objection is not to teenagers voting. It’s to non-teenagers holding the power of life and death over teenagers.
Also, no, I’m not a parent, because I’m already, at best, a benign evil. I’d hate to bring someone into this world to double that effect.
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I’m sorry, what?
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Sorry, I get highly anti-authoritarian when I’ve been drinking, but I stand by my statement. The best one can hope is that parents don’t utterly ruin their children. Hence my advocacy of community-run creches.
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Well I didn’t know my asshole from my elbow at 16, (I hear you, “how is that different than now, .44?”) but hey, when was that needed to vote? There are plenty of ignorant voters who have no clue who are 18 and over.
That said, 1) what makes people think that kids will primarily vote one way or another? 2) What makes people think they won’t be even more susceptible to things like parental influence or propaganda? What I mean is - from the tone it seems like people think it will lead to more wins for one side, but shit lords are getting their starts early in life now a days. Or just good ol’ teenage rebellion I was encouraged to rip the system during Clinton’s terms of office.
Also, if we do lower the age, are we also going to start acknowledging other rights at that age? Especially in schools?
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Exactly. I only learned civics from spending four years in the MN youth in government extracurricular program. We didn’t even brush civics or how government works in a practical sense in any of the required coursework. If it was part of a class it wasn’t one of the advanced college prep courses.
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Unable to speak, in this context.
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I think we’ve proven that, as a nation, we can’t be trusted to implement tests for voting that don’t massively favor white people.
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I had civics covered in my Social Studies class when I was 13, but I suspect it may have only been added to the curriculum because it was an election year.
I see what you did there
by “we”, do you mean white people? Because that I would have to agree with.
It always seems to be a matter of who is “we”, we should vote on it! 
Fun fact: it is already legal in a ton of places. Indiana for starters.
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Really?
Even voucher private schools, K–12 private schools, etc?
Do they need a passing grade in the subject?
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Want to go and review the literature on different life outcomes for people raised by their actual parents (read: biological or long-term adopted) and people raised by any other method? I don’t even dare ask with what massive apparatus of state violence you plan to take children away from their parents.
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You need to experience the company of better parents, not demon rum.
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