“It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs.” – Albert Einstein
The Austrian legislature has lowered the voting age for national elections to 16, making Austria one of a handful of countries with a voting age under 18. Applause! Applause! In these modern times, age isn’t a valid reason for disenfranchisement. If mentally batshit adults can be taken to the polls and ordered to pull a lever, well, why not a 16-year old?
As I steadily acquire age-bestowed wisdom, I try to keep in touch with my youthful mindset. Yes, 16-year old Meredith was rash, hateful of authority, and preoccupied with hair, clothes, and punk rock music… but like all teenagers, she was a sentient being capable of profound insight. And boy, was she pissed when she grew up and found out that 90% of adults use childish criteria like appearance, demeanor, and religious views to elect politicians.
16 is the perfect voting age, because they have the ability, time and hormones to get passionate, often about issues that adults delegate as secondary concerns like the environment, animal rights, social justice, free speech, and drug policy. Americans can bray about the quality of public education all they want, but it’s the high school kids who have to sit in the dilapidated facilities, study for standardized tests, vie for the attentions of over-worked union employees, and dodge bullets from semi-automatic weapons.
The right to vote would give our young citizens incentive to learn about current events and the political system. Maybe they won’t grow up and elect idiot Presidents. Additionally, 16-year olds are expert bullshit detectors, and don’t hold pre-conceived notions about the status quo. They would inject a refreshing perspective into political discourse.
Right now, the Presidential candidate Who All The Kids Are Blogging About is Mike Gravel, a former Senator from Alaska who riled the Democratic candidates during last week’s debate when he said Congress should pass a law making it a felony to keep troops in Iraq. He also turned to Barack Obama and demanded: “Who the hell are we going to nuke? Tell me, Barack. Barack, who do you want to nuke?”
