Politics trev on 10 Apr 2008 05:43 am
Your drinking age, let me lower it.
The drinking age in the United States of America is currently 21 years-old. As far as Western nations go, we are incredibly behind the curve. If you consider the politics and policies of nations such as Saudi Arabia “good”, then you could consider ours good. The only difference between us and them when it comes to alcohol is… we allow you to drink it. Outside of that, no Western nation has such a high drinking age.
And no Western nation has such a high alcohol-related deaths per capita number, either. Is this a correlation? Perhaps it is; perhaps it isn’t. Regardless, it’s certainly something which should be taken into consideration. When children are raised around alcohol as if it’s merely another beverage, much like tea, they don’t grow up thinking they must “rebel” to go get drunk and be retarded. That is not to say people in other countries are not irresponsible, but I would say that there are more responsible drinkers in, say, the UK than there are in the US. I’ve had many UK friends tell me they simply do not understand why people in the USA “binge” drink while in college/high school on numerous occasions. I’ve told them that I do not understand, either. I do know that there is a certain “stigma” related to drinking alcohol when you’re underage, and drinking mass amounts of it. There are people I went to high school with who drank massive amounts of alcohol in HS, and now they’re like.. “alcohol? what’s that?” - they don’t drink. They say “there’s no fun in it anymore” - no fun in it? What? The lying to your parents about where you’re going so they don’t take your vehicle away? I’m confused.
Back on track. Why is it that a person is “mature enough” to vote, die for his/her country, smoke cigarettes(which are far more lethal than alcohol), obtain credit cards, etc., but they cannot sit down in a bar and have a drink? Last I checked, drinking alcohol in and of itself isn’t bad nor does it make you do bad things. You may think it’s cool to be a belligerent asshole while drunk, but the alcohol did not make you do that. To say it did is merely naive and placing the blame upon something else entirely. It is not the fault of alcohol that you lack self-control. That is merely your fault and your fault alone. Not alcohol’s - not your mom’s - not Budweiser’s - not anything or anyone else’s but your own. It’s ludicrous that responsible drinkers get the shaft because a bunch of dumbasses lack self-control.
I propose the following, so you guys cannot bitch about my “lack of solutions”:
- Lower the drinking age to 16
- Lower the minimum age to purchase alcohol to 18
- Increase penalties for posing a risk to others while under the influence. Posing a risk to others meaning a police officer witnesses you swerving all over the road. My proposed penalty: you lose your license for life.
Want to be an idiot while you enjoy the beauty that is contained within a bottle(or can, if that’s your preference)? Cool, we’ll take your license away for life.
Pretty simple, my fellow Americans. Don’t be a fucking idiot.
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on 10 Apr 2008 at 5:54 am # EarthmanXoshaRosp
Y’know that Britain has recently been in a huge moral panic attempting to combat the rise of serious binge-drinking amongst it’s youth recently, right?
…The UK may not be the greatest example right now…
on 10 Apr 2008 at 5:56 am # trev
@ Earthman
No, I was not aware of that. The US has had a problem with it for quite some time, though. Perhaps our idiots are rubbing off on them?
on 10 Apr 2008 at 6:00 am # *Chandas*
I love the Blog!! I totally Agree!
on 10 Apr 2008 at 6:05 am # trev
Thank you.
on 10 Apr 2008 at 6:22 am # KATEinHK
well i’m not too aware as far as laws and regulations are, pretty ignorant in that respect. but in terms of point of view, i do reckon it’s silly that you have to wait til 21 to legally drink. wouldn’t that increase the amount of time you’re illegally drinking? on average i’d expect a teen to start drinking at least at 15 or 16, so waiting til 18 to be legal sounds fair but 21 is just encouraging people to be stupid and go against all these “laws” that allegedly are meant to keep the order of things. i’m just curious as to what this law acheives if its at 21, are people more “responsible” at that age?
on 10 Apr 2008 at 6:25 am # trev
@Kate
Thank you for your input.
I agree with you as far as when teens start drinking, etc. And I think that certain people who write laws, and those who encouraged the writing of these laws, think that somehow you’re magically more responsible at the age of 21. Which obviously is untrue.
Lawmakers in the US(and other nations) like to label people under 18 as irresponsible, potential dangers to society and themselves merely because of how many years they’ve been out of the womb.
… talk about discrimination.
on 10 Apr 2008 at 8:32 am # Lindsey
The truth of it all is that even if it were lowered, at this point in the US, it couldn’t be controlled, and I know even you can agree with that. I also read your post on myspace and you mentioned something about being able to die for your country at 18, but you arn’t able to drink. Actually, on all military bases you CAN drink at 18.. so if everyone is that concerned about drinking before 21.. sign up friends! On top of that.. to each his own. I’m 20 years old and if I really want to drink I have multiple resources that I can go to. Besides, why would I want to go to a bar, have old men stareing down my shirt, and spend 7 dollars on a shot.. when I can stay at home at the company of my friends and family and spend a lot less? Lets be honest here.. lets not wine about 3 years and worry about something a little bigger right now.. like maybe our environment?
on 10 Apr 2008 at 9:05 am # trev
@ Lindsey
Thanks for your input.
What would need to be controlled? The sale of it to 14 year olds or something? That doesn’t even make sense to me. Please elaborate.
I know you can drink at 18 on military bases. I’ve served. What’s your point?
Congratulations. You can drink at home. Now when a neighbor or someone makes a call for a noise disturbance and the police come knocking, you get an MIP charge.. which, in case you’re unaware, is a hefty fine and looks great on your record.
Let me explain something to you. It’s called the slippery slope. Perhaps you’ve heard of this term. I don’t like rights being taken away, nor do I like the slippery slope of labeling everyone under a certain age a retard basically. It’s already begun, and I’d like for it to be stopped.
I’m not whining about anything. I fight for freedom.
And I’ll address the environment in another post perhaps, but I’m not really too concerned with it. It’s hardly a pressing issue to me. Perhaps it is to hippies, though.
Are you a hippie?
on 10 Apr 2008 at 1:11 pm # hank harper
so i guess the army must do things a little different, cause i have never been to a base that will sell any kinda of booze to someone underage. i am pretty sure you are both mistaken on that one small point. but i agree with trev on pretty much everything else. if someone is going to be an irresponsible drunk asshole he is goin to do so wheter he is sixteen or sixty.
on 10 Apr 2008 at 4:11 pm # casey in fayetteville
Hey Trev,
We missed you this week when the guys came up and you didn’t, what the hell man? J/K
To address this whole drinking age thing, we should all think back to when we were 16. I was not responsible. I drove like a bat out of hell every where I went, I made stupid decisions and I’m lucky to be alive after some of the stunts I’ve pulled and I know I’m not the only one. Yes, kids can get their hands on alcohol, but are they truly going to be responsible enough to make smart decisions while under the influence? A lot of adults aren’t so teenagers sure as hell won’t. I know I’m making generalizations right now and that not every teen would be irresponsible. All I know is that we are not as sophisticated as a lot of european countries, that’s just a reality. It would not be a good idea to lower the drinking age and to be perfectly honest, I think we should raise the driving age. As a 26 year old college student, I’m sick of sharing the road with these teenage assholes. It’s chaos on the campus and they do stupid shit all the time… and that’s when their sober.
on 10 Apr 2008 at 4:12 pm # Courtney
Personally, I don’t have a problem with our drinking age being 21. I don’t think a lot of people are mature enough to handle the drinking age being lowered.
With that said, I think it is bullshit you are allowed to serve our country, and not legally drink.
Maybe we should increase the age of joining our military?
annnnd focus a little more on our environment. =)
(I agree with you Lindsey.)
on 11 Apr 2008 at 12:23 am # trev
@ Courtney
I’ve met 50 year olds who are not mature enough to be drinking. Age has nothing to do with it.
Again, our environment isn’t a pressing issue.
Focus on something a little bit more meaningful, like civil liberties.
on 11 Apr 2008 at 12:29 am # trev
@ Casey
I missed you guys! But I’m in Fayetteville right now and I’ll see you very shortly.
I agree that the US is not as sophisticated as European countries - I also agree that our driving age should be increased, or at least the prerequisites to get a license should be. However, I don’t believe there is a correlation between driving age and drinking age.
If under 18, I think the 16/17 year old should have to drink at home with their parents supervision(much like in European countries) - after 18, they may drink at bars/out in public.
I’m on my way to see you so perhaps I’ll elaborate later, or in person.
Thanks for your input!
on 11 Apr 2008 at 12:30 am # trev
@ Hank
It varies from base-to-base, I believe. I know some bars will serve you if you’re 18, but not all bars. I also believe it is a recently amended thing to the UCMJ.