Re: Re: pedo in a speedo

Anna,

While I don't agree with _everything_ you have to say, I think you've raised 
(if
only by implication) a point which has concerned me for a couple of decades 
now,
the arbitrariness of the age limits set upon various privileges and 
responsibilities by
our social/govenrmental/legal system(s). I've known fourteen-year-olds whom 
I
would more happily trust with the power of the vote than many people twice 
and
three times their age; I've known families where wine was served to minors 
at dinner
most nights and none of them grew up alcoholics. And certainly many people 
under
eighteen are ready for the responsibilitiy of sex (and more than a few over 
eighteen
aren't).

The issue is, I think, one of lesser-of-two-evils prgmatism. Actually, there 
are more
than two choices, but ...

What alternatives are there to arbitrary age limits?

The most obvious, and the best in many ways, would be to test people for the
different types and levels of maturity/knowledge/whatever required to make
responsible use of each of these various functions. This has a lot to 
recommend
it. (One can imagine the parties young people would have  on getting their 
first
sex license!) There are two _major_ problems with this plan, though, each 
quite
difficult to deal with, and together nearly insurmountable. The first, and 
easier,
is just the money/resources for all this testing. Certainly I don't want to 
see a
fee charged to test for readiness-to-vote: that would be essentially a poll 
tax. The
other problem is, essentially, "Who decides?" Who watches the watchmen? Do
we want to give the current Ins (whoever they are, I'm not talking 
specifically
about the neocon bloc that runs the country right now) the ability to decide
who can and who can't _vote_?

Swinging in the opposite direction, one can simply remove all restrictions
from sex, drinking, voting, etc. I suspect I don't need to point out the 
problems
inherent with this one?

I'd love to see yet another alternative, one that is practically achievable, 
to the
imposition of arbitrary age limits. But as things stand right now, I can't 
see
any alternatives that would be less bad.

--Dan'l




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