Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Emancipation Proclamation

A recent exchange at www.Threedonia.com

Rufus
An outstanding essay by Kevin Williamson at the National Review, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388945/five-reasons-why-youre-too-dumb-vote-kevin-d-williamson
“If you would like to be filled with despair for the prospects of democracy, spend a few minutes attempting to decipher the psephological musings of Lena Dunham, the distinctly unappealing actress commissioned by Planned Parenthood to share with her presumably illiterate following “5 Reasons Why I Vote (and You Should, Too).” That’s 21st-century U.S. politics in miniature: a half-assed listicle penned by a half-bright celebrity and published by a gang of abortion profiteers.
… A people mature enough to manage the relationship between procreative input and procreative output without recourse to the surgical dismemberment of living human organisms probably would not find much of interest in the work of Miss Dunham. But we are a nation of adult children so horrified by the prospect of actual children that we put one in five of them to death for such excellent reasons as the desire to fit nicely into a prom dress.”
Read the whole thing, http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388945/five-reasons-why-youre-too-dumb-vote-kevin-d-Williamson

JimmyC
Personally, I think they should raise the voting age to 40. I mean, if we’ve already established that you need to be of a certain maturity level, why not wait until the person has gained a certain amount of life experience? It would mean I wouldn’t get to vote in the next couple of election cycles, but I’d rather that than have my vote canceled out by some 19 year-old bong-smoking OWS jackhole in a Guy Fawkes mask who thinks he knows everything about politics after one semester of Ward Churchill’s class and one Howard Zinn book.

Eric
I have no problem with that voting age, but only with exceptions for armed forces members under 40. Also think their drinking age should be lowered to 18, but that’s a tangent for another time.

Loyal Goatherd
I have thought on this issue since I was a teenager and I, long ago, dreamed up a scheme to regulate the emancipation of youth into adulthood. Though not a fan of big government, the scheme did involve a government system to create a process to progress through levels of adult privilege. On a youth’s 13th birthday they are issued a photo identification card, not unlike a license to drive. A magnetic strip could encode a unique identification and an iteration of permitted privileges as well as a printed seal of endorsement to show those privileges. A quick scan at point of transaction could verify a legal proceeding. On their 15th birthday, the youth may choose any one of the following privileges:
The right to vote in all elections.
The right to work a job, jobs or military service (*).
The right to consume alcohol in a legal manner.
The right to smoke or chew tobacco or other substances permitted by the state of residence.
The right to operate a motor vehicle, subject to all laws applicable.
The right to marry.
The right of medical self-determination. (gold teeth, tattoos, piercings, abortions, elective surgeries)
The right of self-government. (the ability to choose your future privileges without parental consent, to enter into contracts, to international travel, to gamble, to possess or produce pornography, all, of course, subject to local laws.
Every 2 years, the youth may select another privilege, until their 19th birthday when they may choose 2 privileges and so forth, 2 privileges every 2 years until all endorsements are issued. At that time they are fully functioning adults. If a youth is found to have exceeded their privileges, that privilege is withdrawn and held until the last choice(the 23rd birthday). Then, full adulthood occurs at 23 years of age. If a youth continues to exercise a privilege they are not entitled to another 2 year waiting period may be imposed, indefinitely.
This process would allow the youth to customize his or her entrance to adulthood. The first privilege is subject to parental approval and all subsequent privileges are as well until the self-governing privilege is taken as a choice. *To join the military, the youth will have to have chosen the work privilege and will be rewarded with an additional privilege after one year of service.
The initiation of youth in to manhood and womanhood has been lost to us as a people for too long. There is something lost on today’s people that is important to each individual and that is a clear dividing line of adulthood, with its privileges and responsibilities. When the thirteen year old boys are kidnapped by their elders and made to perform as men before they are allowed to return to the village as men, they then are men! We need something akin to this!
Of course, such a system would never fly. But it did take up many a graveyard shift in my youth dreaming it up and tweeking the results. Submitted for your perusal and amusement.