Quote:
Originally Posted by Space_Coyote
If you can be trusted with the most dangerous of weapons you should be able to drink. At eighteen we allow our citizens to enlist in the armed forces and operate tanks, machine guns, rocket-launchers, and all other manner of destructive forces, and of course the most deadly weapon of all; the vote.
If we trust our young people with explosive devices and the responsibility of choosing civil government, we can trust them to drink responsibly. Hell, they can't be any less responsible than the countless thousands of people 21 and over who die every year from alcohol poisoning or DUI crashes.
No beer, no enlistment, no vote.
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I knew that this argument would be brought up
Now what is the biggest difference between drinking at age 18 and learning to fire weapons and handling heavy equipment full of explosives?
Training and oversight. When you turned 21 did you have to spend week after week training before you got to even touch a beer? What about having a CO standing over you 98% of the time making sure you don't drop the ball?
As for the voting aspect, this is pretty much a non issue because I think we all know or know of someone that votes out of their *** any way so it really does not matter.
At this point in Americas societal evolution I do not think that teen's cannot fully handle the responsibility of being able to drink. Drinking carry's to much of a stigma in this country. Now places such as Germany and such have embraced beer and liquor so there is not as much of a stigma associated with it making it just an every day thing.