The age of reason
The age of reason is the age which a person may reasonably be expected to make rational decisions about themselves.
Upon reaching this age a whole raft of opportunities open up, whether it be buying alcohol or being sent to an adult prison once convicted.
Prior to that age the person is to all intents and purposes treated by the law as a child and the responsibility of the parents [or in modern times, the parent].
However they now want this legal “child” to be able to vote at 16. I’m not sure of the reasoning here but I do wonder how it can be a good thing. Kids between 16 and 18 generally seem to be wrapped up in TicToc or Instagram and are more worried about boyfriend/girlfriend problems that the goings on in the Dáil.
So a child of 16 apparently has the mental capacity to decide who runs our country. Keep that thought for a moment.
Now they are raising the age at which people can buy tobacco products to 21. So people who have been voting for years and are responsible enough to sign contracts or drive any vehicle on the roads are still not old enough to know if they want to smoke or not? They can legally purchase any amount of alcohol but they can’t buy a single packet of cigarettes? Where is the logic here?
They claim it will reduce smoking levels, but logic fails here too. If they enforced the existing law then their imagined “problem” would be solved as only legally responsible adults could start. But that law doesn’t work [along with the raft of other anti-smoker laws] so the new limit won’t work either.
There is a very interesting article from the view from behind the shop counter. Well worth a read. It shows up many of the unintended consequences of this daft move.
Of course this new age limit is backed by MyHole Martin, who you may remember is the cunt who brought in the smoking ban.
Maybe the kiddies could vote him out of office?
Age of reason, I think not!!!!
Can they self identity as being of a different gender and more mature?
Jonathon Swift would be giving up because “reality” is more ridiculous than anything he could conjure up.
Unless we are all in his imagination, and living on yet another island that Gulliver visited?
Maybe I’ll refuse to vote on the grounds that I identify as a dog [a Golden Retriever to be precise]? Dogs should be given the vote!!!! We’re more alert than most teenagers.
It’s all predicated on the old adage that people become more right-leaning as they age. The parties of the left, across Europe are realising that the jig is up and their voters (other than in the UK where perversely they are stubbornly continuing to believe in the left) will never win by themselves.
So the vote has to be given to the younger and younger, using a variety of spurious arguments. The real reason is to try and get that still-indoctrinated lefty vote as it leaves school, but before it’s had chance to experience paying tax, or think for itself.
Their favourite argument is to wibble on about being ‘able to serve and die for your country at 16’ (regardless of the fact that 16-18yo in most countries can join the forces but not be combatants.
There is a very well known phenomenon here of the civil war influencing the vote. I know that was 199 years ago but what’s a few years? Anyway, families traditionally vote on the lines of old grievances, and this tradition has filtered down through a few generations. It’s finally dying out as Millennials couldn’t give a shit about old wars, hence the death of single party governments and the rise of coalitions. And about time too. The more disruption to old style voting patterns, the better.