The discussion has often been made that our soldiers should have the right to legally consume alcohol at the age of 18 instead o 21. It has already been determined that most drinkers have their first drink under the age of 21. However, there is a rift between lowering the age in every state to allow all of our soldiers the right to consume alcohol at 18. They are deemed adults based on the law, allowed to vote, can legally serve and risk their lives for our country and other countries and purchase cigarettes. It would be reasonable to allow the legal serving age, at least for beer to be 18 for all US soldiers.
I understand about drunk driving and statistics related to it. I have lost friends that were killed by drunk drivers or know people who were intoxicated while driving that resulted in death. It is sad for their families and for all of their friends. You never adjust to that type of loss, but it has not stopped people from driving drunk. In many cases, drunk drivers are over the legal age of 21. There are cases when drunk drivers are under 21, but how has this law reduced the risk of driving drunk.
I give all respect due the men and women that have signed up and served for this country and around the world. It is a duty and responsibility that should allow them the same respect as any 21 year old. The only thing, in my opinion, that separates a soldier drinking at 18 or 21 is the number. People will choose to be responsible, if they so choose. It is a choice. Limiting their choice to drink at 18 does not change the huge sacrifice that they make.
We should make the legal age of drinking for all soldiers in all 50 states be 18 instead of 21. I think our soldiers deserve the change for their sacrifice and commitment. We salute you.
Soldiers should never have more rights than ordinary citizens, unless there is a direct correlation between that right and their ability to perform their duty as a soldier.
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
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Soldiers will never have the same rights as a normal citizen. Upon entering the military they forfeit many of their rights. They do not have the right to free speech, no freedom of the press, not able to plied the 5th, their own property can be search without a warrant or probable reason, they can not strike, they can not form a union, and they can not just quit any attempt to use any of this rights will put the soldier in prison, hard labor. So you wish to stop a soldier from drink at 18. In my opinion if they wish to drink at a younger age then they should go overseas and then it would be legal.
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"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, 1749
Why is this a reply to my comment?
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
You said
I wanted to inform you that soldiers will never have MORE right then you they in fact they have a lot less.
"Something given has no value"~Robert Heinlein
"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, 1749
Alright. I was just a bit confused, because it seemed to suggest that I said that they did have more rights, which I didn't mean to say.
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
I don't see why laws should not apply to them as laws do to everyone else.
I think that the legal drinking age should be 18 period. It's ridiculous that at 18, you're old enough to vote in your officials, die in war, gamble, smoke, etc, but not old enough to drink. Like you said, it's not like the law prevents people from drinking anyway.
RESPECT LIFE
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"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
honestly, what needs to happen is a lowered drinking age and a higher driving age.
i believe permitts shouldn't be given to kids under the age of 18
for some reason people always focus on alcohol when the attention should be directed towards driving.
and if the drinking age would lower then it would have to include everyone not just soldiers.
No way for the driving thing...I'm 16...whereas I don't think I was ready to drive before 16, I'm definitely ready now. I think driving should be more of an individual thing. It really depends on the kid and the parent should be responsible enough to judge if their kid's ready at 16 for their permit or not. Mom let me get my permit at 16, but she's telling my sister that she'll be 18 before she'll get her permit. It's really up to the kid.
RESPECT LIFE
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"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
I think it is interesting that you refer to 16 year olds as kids. Your right that some teens are kids some are young adults, some should drive and some should be locked in their rooms till they get some sense.
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In that case my 57 year old father should still be locked up!
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
Haha, well, we still are to a certain extent...depending on the person, some more than others. : P
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
i am pretty sure some people are going to be ready to drive sooner than others; however, overall most teens that feel that they are ready to drive really are not.
i also believe that there should be a sticker on the cars of young drivers to indicate caution.
there is a reason why so many countries have a lower crash rate compared to America
Well, I definitely agree with the sticker thing...especially when I was first driving, I did so many almost-wreck type situations.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
Hmmm... I think that "They are deemed adults based on the law, allowed to vote, can legally serve and risk their lives for our country and other countries and purchase cigarettes." is true for all young adults and it "would be reasonable to allow the legal serving age, at least for beer to be 18 for" ALL.
What many do not realize is that when traveling to foreign countries, service members are able to abide by local law, meaning that if that country has a lower drinking age then military are allowed to drink both on and off base. Honestly I have been there seen that and most of the young ones are the dumbest and get into the most alcohol based trouble then other age groups. Even those who are 20-21 act more resposibly then the 18-19 year olds.
Now that I have said the same thing everyone else has I will take it a step further. There should not be any drink age regulation because this glamourizes the beverage for those coming of age. The government should not regulate my doritos or drink prefrences. I heard someone say that if it were like Europe then there would be nothing special about drinking and this would limit the amount of drunken indulgence and subsequently the beligerant reactions of too much.
I respectfully thank you for the thought and good post.
Love is like a box of chocolates; if you chose wisely you won’t be disappointed and have to spit it out. ~T
very interesting thought,; however, the younger generations in Europe are acting similar to the typical teen american.
what is happening is that they are being introduced to cultures that glorify adolescents and encourage them to behave differently and disobey what your parents.
they may have been introduced to alcohol at an early age, but they are abusing it now more than ever.
... but in theory if you change the culture by changing the law we could change the world?
Love is like a box of chocolates; if you chose wisely you won’t be disappointed and have to spit it out. ~T
perhaps it is the culture you must change first in order to change the law.
We have reached an impass. The law creates and gives credit to the culture if we remove the law (or change it) then the reason for the crazy behavior will change, in my opinion.
I guess the question here is which created what? The law created the culture or the culture created the law. Really we should make spanking legal- fear free again... that may work too.
:)
Love is like a box of chocolates; if you chose wisely you won’t be disappointed and have to spit it out. ~T
That pissed off the 18-20 years and 364 day old soldiers. So they ammended the constitution to lower the voting age to 18.
Progress is slow in government.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude
When I turned 18 the legal drinking age in Montana, where half of my family's ranch was located was18. The closest town of any size (bigger than one building with a post ofiice, bar, grocery store and gas station combined) was in Wyoming and the legal age was 19. In the neighboring States to Wyoming of South Dakota and Colorado they had "3.2" laws where 18 year olds could buy weak beer in grocery stores and real beer and other liquor in liquor stores when they turned 21. In California where I attended college the drinking age was 21.
Most of the states with lower drinking ages had lowered them from 21 to whatever during the Vietnam War in response to very similar arguments as were made in this blog.
Slowly, after the War, all of the States changed the ages back up to 21. By the time I was 22 almost every state had raised their drinking age back to 21. Wyoming was one of the last states to raise their drinking age and it finally took blackmail from the Reagan Administration threatening to cut off Federal Highway funds. I think any state that tries to lower their drinking age will be subject to the same Federal blackmail now.
I totally approved of the lower drinking age when I was 18. Now that I am 50, while I think the argument has some validity about kids being old enough to risk their lives and die, I also think that the argument that 18 year olds, including soldiers are less likely to behave responsibly with alcohol has lots of merit.
My response to this blog is: "Been there and done that".
I am pretty sure that, upon enlisting, military men and women were well aware of the laws surrounding the legal drinking age in the United States. I'm sure those laws stop them from drinking just as much as they stop other underage people from drinking.
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First off, if I read one more time, "Old enough to die for their country" I am going to freak out. That is just a stupid statement, and quite frankly demeans the sacrifice of all Soldiers. No one joins to die for their country. Screw that! I have no intention of dying. If it does happen however, it is not for my country. I would forfeit my life for my ideals, beliefs, my brothers and sisters in arms, and my family.
Second, I am sick of this "In Europe" statement. In Europe MOST teens don't own cars, so most teens are not going to get hammered and kill my family as we are coming home because they weren't that drunk. Just about everyone take public transportation, so drinking does not have nearly the social impact as it does in the states.
Finally, Soldiers are a direct representation of the American society (to a degree, we weed out those that are of weak moral character or can not abide by Military customs and courtesies). I wouldn't want an 18 year old Soldier drinking. No way! Does it happen, yes, clearly. However, they are also much more likely to drink and drive, get into accidents, have alcohol related violent incidents, alcohol related domestic violence,etc. These kids, depending upon their jobs and deployment history, are put under enormous amounts of stress, I would much rather that they find healthy ways to release this than by turning to alcohol.
I totally agree with you. :yay: I am glad you said this so many times we demean what the military is doing and stands for by letting uninformed statements like that one into a conversations. Thank you for your service I hope that you stay safe and come home with honor..
"Something given has no value"~Robert Heinlein
"Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, 1749