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Post by gearofzanzibar on Aug 28, 2008 4:36:52 GMT -5
I had my tongue pressed firmly in my cheek with the suggestion that we raise the voting age to 21, but I wholeheartedly agree that we've created an almost neverending adolescence for our children.
For most of human history adulthood arrived shortly after puberty at around 13-14. Unfortunately, the first social assistance programs were launched in the early 1800's when the average age of puberty had soared up to 17-18 because of dietary problems in the British lower classes that were the subjects of most medical studies. Since then, despite our superior diet lowering the average age of puberty back to it's historical lows, and in some cases much lower, the accepted age of adulthood has crept ever higher.
We could probably go on for thousands of pages discussing the ways that change has impacted our society, but I think the worst overall impact has been the expectation that *everyone* needs to be protected and coddled from everything. We've infantilized ourselves, and we'll be feeling the repurcussions for decades.
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 28, 2008 8:16:52 GMT -5
We've infantilized ourselves ... , I suppose that's been going on for a long time, maybe since the cavemen. It's a human trait, to arrange safety in life. I could agree with you ... I do, actually ... and say we've gone too far, but then I remember my grandfather thought the same, 100 years ago. He railed against social safety nets that we would today consider normal. He thought it terrible that the government would interfere with the normal course of society to ban child labor (how was a family to live? what did they think farm families did?) or to step in to feed and house widows and orphans. And he liked widows; he married two of 'em. (see: www.windsweptpress.com/blanche.pdf ) What he didn't like was government. But this train won't be easy to stop. If I were to come back 100 years from now, it's possible I'd see Nancy Pelosi's picture on a 3 dollar bill. Shudder. I'm reminded of Thomas Merton's premise that we are still growing. We forget that as centuries and centuries go by, the human mind and heart also evolve. Toward what, we won't know until we get there.  |
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Post by wilum47 on Aug 28, 2008 12:01:14 GMT -5
.. but also have always felt if these kids are joining the military then they should be able to have a beer. Lucy, that's interesting. I think that may have been the defacto standard at one time for states that had a 21 year rule. Or maybe it was for 17 year olds who enlisted early when the drinking age was 18. My memory is hazy, but I believe that service men and women drinking on army and air bases (cheaper by far!) were not subject to the drinking rules in force in state where the base was located. Maybe some old Enlisted Men's Club devotee could help me out here. When I was stationed at Lowery AB Denver the drinking age was 21 with the exception of 3.2 beer which was 18. The base recognized the state's requirement. It may have been up to the base at the time maybe but that was how it was in Colo. in 1966. By the way 3.2 beer sucked! |
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Post by rickolney on Aug 29, 2008 11:05:20 GMT -5
We've infantilized ourselves ... , I suppose that's been going on for a long time, maybe since the cavemen. It's a human trait, to arrange safety in life. I could agree with you ... I do, actually ... and say we've gone too far, but then I remember my grandfather thought the same, 100 years ago. He railed against social safety nets that we would today consider normal. He thought it terrible that the government would interfere with the normal course of society to ban child labor (how was a family to live? what did they think farm families did?) or to step in to feed and house widows and orphans. And he liked widows; he married two of 'em. (see: www.windsweptpress.com/blanche.pdf ) What he didn't like was government. But this train won't be easy to stop. If I were to come back 100 years from now, it's possible I'd see Nancy Pelosi's picture on a 3 dollar bill. Shudder. I'm reminded of Thomas Merton's premise that we are still growing. We forget that as centuries and centuries go by, the human mind and heart also evolve. Toward what, we won't know until we get there. Yes except for the fact that it was those children (working as they were) that grew into the adults that saved the world from threats like Hitler. Not to mention where all that tenacity came from within the female contingent to take jobs in factories during the war effort and conserve. Your grandfather sounds like he knew that hard work doesn't make a body and mind soft. Nancy Pelosi isn't part of the solution. She's part of the problem. America's children are being dummied down. While all our education monies get sifted off by a variety of groups and causes on a local and national unofficial 'agenda' derived from uncaring greedy people. But as you said, this train won't be easy to stop. |
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Post by dgriffin on Aug 29, 2008 14:30:52 GMT -5
 Get a diploma, or get drunk? Why lowering the drinking age is a bad idea"The idea is being led by a group of 120 past and present college presidents, united in what I feel is an abdication of responsibility. If 18-year-olds can legally drink, these "educators" don't have to fight drunkenness as part of their curriculum." "Statistics can be juggled. There's a paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, arguing that the national minimum drinking age wasn't successful. These 120 presidents jump from that to arguing a completely different position - that raising the drinking age to 21 has caused an increase in college binge drinking." www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2008/08/29/2008-08-29_get_a_diploma_or_get_drunk_why_lowering_.html |
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