Voting Age 30

[Gorbles]

And without that shield of cynicism they are easily swayed by propaganda

Cynicism doesn't shield you from propaganda, lol.

Thinking for your self is hard and it does not come naturally. It is something that has to be beaten into you by the harsh reality of being screwed over and betrayed by people you trust and respect enough times to realize that you should not trust and respect anyone, especially if they say they have all the answers.

Holy moly, and you said cynicism shields you from propaganda? It's handy to have a self-defeating example in the same post, so I've gotta thank you for that

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

Why?

Otherwise you have taxation without representation. It's also disingenuous for a government to label the same person as both a child and as an adult depending on what's convenient for the government.

You do make good points on the drinking age and being swayed by propaganda.

 

[amadeus]

I’m thinking set it to 100 so people work a little harder at staying healthy. Also get the ballots counted quicker, and more Matlock

 

[Farm Boy]

Everyone likes Matlock.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

Otherwise you have taxation without representation. It's also disingenuous for a government to label the same person as both a child and as an adult depending on what's convenient for the government.

Governments do that all the time though. And often times the numbers they pick for cutoff ages make no sense. And that is actually fine as it is a feature of legal systems and not a bug.

You see, the purpose of a nations legal system is not to fit some grand philosophical outlook or anything like that. It's just a set of rules established by the state as a proxy and representative of the people and intended to control the behavior of those people. It's one and only purpose is quite literally to set the framework for society as a list of dos and donts and force everyone to obey that. So instead of looking at it from the perspective of philosophy you should be looking at it like any other set of game rules. It's just that in this case the "game" being played happens to be life. All that matters is that it provides a fun experience for all and that it is enforceable and functional.

And like all good systems to do its goal this it does not have to make philosophical sense or be internally consistent or anything like that. Indeed, those things are often counterproductive to its objectives because they act as a straitjacket which forces it to sacrifice results in favor of artificial constraints that were newer the core objective. And this is not a good thing when the stakes as as high as life it self.

Cynicism doesn't shield you from propaganda, lol.

Nothing is ever perfect. But it beats nothing.

No lock will stop a determined thief. But I'd rather have one than go without. And I'd certainly rather not live in a city where nobody locks their doors.

 

[Arwon]

Congress can only be 30 and up.
The President can be only 35 and up.

This bit is still dumb as hell btw. I'm now wondering did they do that just to keep British influence out in some way I'm not immediately grasping

 

[PPQ_Purple]

This bit is still dumb as hell btw. I'm now wondering did they do that just to keep British influence out in some way I'm not immediately grasping

It's probably just a strait up copy from the Roman system where those same years were considered to be the minimal age for entering their senate and consulship respectively. The american political system is in many ways a love letter to the Roman Republic made by amateur historians.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

This bit is still dumb as hell btw. I'm now wondering did they do that just to keep British influence out in some way I'm not immediately grasping

It was somewhat arbitrary. They wanted to avoid a repeat of William Pitt Jr

By the time someone is 35, you can evaluate them on their own record.