Drink Now, Vote Later

 

 

As President Obama strolls in meditation on the Potomac, he can relish some victories early in his administration, including a recession that may show signs of easing, much better emission and mileage standards for cars, credit cards that no longer bite the hand that holds them, and healthcare reform up for serious discussion at last.

 

But before he trips on a fish or something, he should consider this bit of Americana that needs fixing – we vote too early and drink too late.

 

When an American reaches 18, he or she can vote, buy and sell real property, marry without parental consent, stand for many public offices, and do just about everything other adults can do, including donning the country’s uniform to kill foreigners the government finds inconvenient.

 

All of that, especially killing foreigners before they kill you, could certainly prompt many of us to pour a stiff one, but the 20-year-old back from a tour in Iraq better not – the legal drinking age in the United States is 21.

 

Which is silly.

 

In Europe, the legal drinking age varies by country when they bother with it at all. It’s generally 18 and under, sometimes as low as 12. Legal purchase age runs between 16 and 18. Except countries where booze in any form is banned for everyone, the rest of the world pretty much follows suit.

 

But most of the world joins the U.S. in allowing persons 18 years old to vote.

 

That’s also silly.

 

Most 18-year-olds have difficulty making an informed choice beyond what music to buy and what clothes to wear, and seldom pay for the choices in any event. Mommy and Daddy are still picking up the tab, often well into their little darlings’ early 20s.

 

Voting at 18 is a departure from the long-established traditional age of majority, 21, but even that figure is too low in today’s society.

 

When the United States declared independence from Great Britain, the average life expectancy was 35, meaning a voting man had the benefit of more than half a lifetime’s experience when deciding public questions. True, suffrage wasn’t universal, and those who did vote tended to be wealthier and lived longer, but the notion of dependent children voting would have been laughed out of Independence Hall.

 

By 1900, average life expectancy was 47, and 21-year-olds casting their first vote had already spent around 45 percent of their living days.  Suffrage was universal, at least for white males.

 

Today, life expectancy for women is 79 and for 72 men. And we give the vote to those without even a quarter of their lifetime accumulation of wisdom and experience -- less for most if you count the wisdom of being self-supporting.

 

With both the drinking age and the voting age out of whack, there’s a clear solution – make the voting age 1.5 times a realistic drinking age. So you could belly up to the bar legally when you turned 18, but not cast your vote until 27, when you would have at least a third of your life experience to guide you.

 

One exception: if you served in the Armed Forces of the United States, you would earn a right to vote as soon as you cleared boot camp. Any young person claiming that to be unfair would be directed to the nearest enlistment center.

 

It’s not known whether President Obama has considered these things, or if he has, whether or not he thinks they can be accomplished. With respect, Mr. President, yes we can.

 

And be careful of those fish!

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