Fascinating how many liberals want kids to vote at 16 but want The Benevolent State to prevent them from drinking or smoking for five more years. This stupid and destructive idea makes no sense. At all. Either voters are fully-empowered adults or they're not. /1
I like restricting gambling and other vices to 21. But... I'd return voting to 21, too, if I could :)
Voting is an *adult* action. It requires living in both the now and the future, putting community over self, and grasping complex issues. It's not a game for adolescents. /2
Voting is an *adult* action. It requires living in both the now and the future, putting community over self, and grasping complex issues. It's not a game for adolescents. /2
Liberals love this idea because they assume - rightly - that kids will vote mostly liberal. Not so much in some places, though, which could become a very illiberal problem in some states. The karmic blowback could be impressive, but not worth risking. /3
"Let the children vote" is yet another of those helium-brained ideas that adults put out there mostly to feel good about themselves - or for more nefarious reasons - than to empower children. 18 was a bad mistake; 16 would be a disaster beyond retrieval. /4x
