Voting is NOT FOR CHILDREN.

"Your country?" What country are you in? Well, your point about the military shaping them up, is, on the surface, true enough, but since there's no draft, only those already becoming more mature WOULD join. They'd probably come closer to having enough life experience to vote sensibly, but even they haven't seen ENOUGH of life to make changes for the rest of the country. I =know.= I was 23 when this 18-can-vote thing happened. MUCH of what is wrong with America today can be traced to the sudden influx of CHILDREN making major decisions which they had no idea were really bad. Children =always= want to be treated as adults, & don't understand when adults tell them, when you're older, you'll understand. I get that. And because I DO, that's one of the major reasons I say wait 'til kids are at least MOSTLY mature, THEN let them vote. Maggiepie

Hey, Belgiumite! How are ya? Texan, here! :o) Well, for centuries, we only allowed people who were 21 or older to vote. Then this dratted youth-idolizing culture came along in the 60s, & all that went kerflooey. We don't have a test to see if folks are mature enough to vote, so what we USED to do was pick an age where everyone figured all kids SHOULD be adults. And note that it was OVER 20. NOW, when even 21 & 30 year olds are acting like teenagers, the folks who originally set it at 21 would agree with me these kids are not READY yet, & might even demand they wait til 30! LOL! The notion that people need to prove they're adults isn't quite Constitutional, or American, I think. First, who gets to decide what constitutes the test? I can just imagine far left extremists telling us no-one who votes Conservative is mature enough...ha! And on the Conservative side, I'm pretty sure I'd demand a person prove they can handle a job, or kids, or something a mature person takes on. So you see, I doubt that'd work for any of us. Still, the more I think about it, I believe we should raise it, but waive that delay for anyone who joins the military. Not because of the seriousness of the situations they'd be in (that doesn't need maturity to BEGIN with, just an ability to be brave & follow orders -- something any well-taught 10 year old can do). Thanks for your reply! Maggiepie

Well it's all a big mess these days. I am from Belgium and there too it is 18 years to vote, too soon I think. But you have to draw a line somewhere, but where ? You could do a test or something like that ? Have them do something in life before they can vote ? Maybe even let them first get a house, or work (as this is more easy to accomplish) ? There will always be problems in politics, no matter how you look at it.. Because of all the opinions there also will always be struggles and things that make it harder to control or do politics in a correct way. Also every choice made in politics, by children or older persons, will be bad for one group of people but positive for an other. That's what I think... ^^

[b] Yes, I am familiar with history of "The Cradle of Democracy," as we refer to Greece. Democracy works best when a populace is largely not-homogenized, as modern multicultural ones are, & in less populous societies. Rich slave owners or not, we moderns still owe your ancestors (heck, probably some of mine were Greek, too) a huge debt. And there are other countries which force their citizens to vote, as well. America was designed to get government off our backs, however, & also meant to be run by educated, God-loving people. The Founders even stated that without these things, this system would not work. There was a time, not so long ago, when children were taught the principles on which our nation was founded, & which mostly kept it running smoothly. But gradually, ideas alien to these principles crept in, & the history & civics which were formerly ingrained in our collective psyche were left out of the curricula, or dismissed as unimportant, & now are being out-right banned. The result is an apathetic youth--many college graduates!--who have to be browbeaten & bribed into voting at all, & because they don't know what made this country the best ever, they don't see why it's important. Call it a sort of "historical illiteracy." Still, some have learned their history, but under the watch of "teachers" who have deliberately with-held vital parts of our history, & poisoned their minds with hatred for the Founders & everything for which they stood, & who seek to destroy their charges' love for this country. Then, they instill in such students a desire to corrupt the system. And those are the "children" of whom I spoke. They are the ones who vote. And they do so as dupes, immature, not thinking, but reacting with emotion, informed by a totally warped view of what America really is all about. They're not "old" enough (these days they still consider themselves to be "grown-up kids!), & by this I mean mature enough, to do so properly, with adult points of view, with the sorts of responsibilities mature adults are more likely to possess. There have been numerous articles & books written about this phenomenon & there's even a name for it. It's called "The Peter Pan Syndrome," after J.M. Barrie's novel about a magical boy who refused to grow up, if you're unfamiliar with it. As I pointed out before, people don't all mature at the same time, nor are "unfinished" people ready for all the same types of responsibilities at once. There are stages of development, & more & more difficult responsibilities--voting being one of the most difficult!--are added as these stages progress. This is just a fact of nature. But in law, there has to be a point at which the average person should be mature enough to do certain things (& even then exceptions may be made). By & large, until recently, the age of 21 was that point at which the people chose to say, "You are now an adult." With this new "sustained infancy" of our youth stretching far past 18 (as well as past 21, sometimes even to 30!) however, he practice of delaying responsibilities longer & longer, choosing instead to live at home, not get a job, pay bills, etc., all I'm saying is that the age of 18 is now far too soon for most kids to be ready for the profound thought needed to vote sensibly, knowing all the facts, & not just being swayed by emotion. I think 21 might very well be too "young" for most. Thirty might do. Maggiepie GOD REIGNS SUPREME. "WHY DO THE HEATHEN RAGE?"[/b]

I don't do copy and paste so I'll just try to refer to a few points you made. I should first clarify that whilst in some countries people are forced to vote, having a mandatory system here does not actually make it 'forced'as people do want to do it and would be against a change of that, but that goes way back and I've not come across anyone unhappy about that system, they laugh at the apathy of voting in other countries as it is something they don't understand. When you speak of America and its founders that was a long time ago and modernity comes in, otherwise yourself as a woman would not have the right to vote. I do not believe that religion should come into anyones right to vote at all and although you might prefer that only the religious vote you surely would not exclude an atheist from the right to vote. At least that was never once brought into it in the UK voting system. I for one believe that religion and politics should be separate and dislike it intensley when self serving politicians start spouting religion to get the popular vote. School taught history, like any subject, should be an opportunity for a student to read beyone the text book and to think for themselves. Education should never stop at the classroom and it is terrible in any country when indoctrination becomes part of the programme. Here in Greece children are taught the proud history of their country first and are very patriotic, and grow up believing that their country is the best in the world. Like every other country it has its faults though but at least we are in a small time warp where our own culture is allowed to be the prevailing one, crime is low, and respect is a way of life. Those are the kind of things which will not easily be given up here. As to the voting age, politics are openly discussed here in families, cafenions, everywhere, so the young voter will have a clear picture of the issues and the arguements and they do have a maturity I haven't seen in youngsters of some other cultures. Certainly in the UK one could say that at 18 someone is to immature to vote, but then again they will probably be part of the apathetic youth who don't vote.

Amen to THAT. Your "client," Maggiepie

No, because of the "Peter Pan" factor. People in this culture are worshippers of youth, & the young know they have a good thing going, & want to drag it out as long as possible. I know plenty of 25 year olds with teenaged mindsets. It's all about mememememe, gimmegimmegimme. How do you think the welfare state grew so bloated? Children look to their parents to give them everything, & now you hear supposed ADULTS asking, What can the government do for me?" The "Nanny State" is more than just an expression! John F. Kennedy must be whirling in his grave.... Maggiepie

Don't agree with WHICH? That the "Peter Pan" factor is a reason to wait? That the voting age should be restored (at least) to 21? If the former, you need to research the facts. If the latter, then you can't just disagree without making your point as to WHY it's not a Good Thing. Otherwise, you've been intellectually lazy, & come to the debate for no reason. And as for the drinking age being lowered, why not? Stats PROVE many teens can't really handle it. If you'd like some proof, check out the stats at the DMV re drunk drivers & age. Ball's in your court. /o) Maggiepie

Um...please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not SURE I understand you. If you're saying what I THINK you're saying -- that the government decided to set the age at 21, once, because they thought younger people wouldn't be mature enough to make such decisions, then I agree with you. Maggiepie

But that's exactly what we've had! LOL! And amen, I don't like it either! Maggiepie