Some people use the argument, "If someone is old enough to serve our country, they should be able to drink a beer," to show they are in favor of lowering the drinking age. What should happen is, people under the age of 21 who are/have been in the army should be able to legally consume alcohol. Everyone else can wait until they're 21, amirite?

The argument isn't that they deserve to drink based on merit. It's that society deems them to be responsible enough and smart enough to fight for our country, but they aren't responsible enough to consume alcohol and decide what happens to their bodies.

I actually had a debate on this in English class. I am for lowering the drinking age. You should be able to drink at 18, as you are a legal adult. America is pretty much saying, "Okay, you can fight for our country, you can smoke, you have to pay taxes and you can vote, BUT GOD FORBID DRINKING?! No, you aren't 'adult' enough yet for that!"

Now when it comes to drinking in the military. Military people shouldn't get special treatment just because they are in the Military. Yes, I know they are fighting for our country, but what about the people that actually LIVE in our country that fight for us, like firemen and policemen? Should they be able to drink?

And lastly, the reason why some people have the right to drink in the military is because they follow the age of the country they are in. It is perfectly legal for them to drink there if the age to drink is 14. Why should they be left out?

I don't want my soldiers to legally have the right to expose their brains to alcohol before the brain reaches maturity (more than they otherwise would, at any rate) and then go handle any sort of machinery. Impaired judgement of any kind is not acceptable when it comes to killing others, even in the name of war.
Besides, in countries in the Middle East like Afghanistan where most American soldiers are, alcohol is illegal for both the citizens and soldiers, so this is a moot point.

I can see it now:
"Join the army! Defend your country, and get drunk"

I just don't think soldiers should get special treatment.

The biggest problem with the US's drinking age that nobody seems to know about is that there is no actual federal drinking age. The Federal government has no Constitutional authority to pass such a law. However, the government found a way to cheat the Constitution. They threatened to take away 10% of any states' highway fund were they to pass a minimum drinking age below 21. This is why the federal government has no business providing money to states. They basically steal money from the states and then threaten not to give it back unless they surrender themselves to Uncle Sam's will. People don't realize how much the Federal Government overreaches on their power.

inb4debatesaboutloweringthedrinkingage

Am I favvkes yet?

They should be the same age. You shouldn't get special treatment just because you're in the army. If you are supposedly mature enough to decide whether you want to risk your life for your country then you are old enough to decide what to do to your body.

I think both should be 18. Finding an 18 year old American who hasn't drunk is rare anyway and I think as legal adult you would have the right to make decisions in your life. State control needs limits.

Mmk, I No Wayed this because I believe that we just have a silly way of dealing with alcohol. And anything else somewhat controversial. How about we teach that (almost) everything is alright in moderation, not put a limit on what age you can start being stupid.

Don't argue about 18 not being much different from 21, and then asking why our drinking age shouldn't be lower/higher. You have to put the cut-off somewhere, and if you kept saying things like, "Well, what's the difference between 17 and 18?" that will turn into 16 & 17, and so on.
You really have to draw the line somewhere, and it has been drawn.

It would be unfair. It's basically saying that if you want a small reward, you have to take a great risk; not unlike going bungee jumping for a Twinkie. I say remove the minimum drinking age altogether.

In some countries, there is no minimum drinking age. I think that is good because it teaches kids and parents alcohol responsibility early on and it takes away a rite of passage. You wouldn't constantly hear about kids binge drinking on their 21st birthday because they weren't sheltered from alcohol all their lives.

I think that it should be 19. I would say 18, but there are people that are still in high school when they're 18, and some of them would probably show up to school drunk. You're seen as an adult when you're 19, you can vote, fight for your country, and be charged as an adult. If you allow people to do all of those things that show responsibility and maturity, you should be able to legally buy alcohol.

When people use that as an argument they are saying that if someone has enough responsibilty to join the military then they should have enough responsibility to just have a drink. They're not saying that being in the military means you're suddenly capable of consuming alcohol.

Oh, and inb4 people complaining that it's hard to make witty comments on a serious POTD.

I don't really feel like going through all the comments so if this has been said already, I apologize in advance. The point of the statement isn't about joining the army, it's saying if they're giving you the responsibility at 18 to choose whether or not you can go and put your life on the line, then you should also be responsible enough to consume alcohol.

Honestly, I don't think it really matters in the end. The law isn't really stopping teenagers from drinking regardless.

It's debates like this that make me even happier to be Canadian.

toddlers should be walking around with a 40oz amirite?

Raise the recruitment age. Problem solved.

:trollface:

What I don't understand is why an 18 year old is allowed to start in porn but not drink. It's like, "Hey, you're old enough to expose your body and have 40 year old men fap to you, but you cannot drink. Sorry bro."

That makes sense.

That's what already happens in the US. If you're in the military, you can drink on base, even if you're only eighteen.

I guess you've never heard of the term "equal rights".

I thought you could purchase alcohol with your military I.D. no matter what age you are.

It used to be this way but they stopped it in the 70s. someone may have said this already though

In Australia the legal drinking age is 18, but we still have 'rebellious' teens who drink at 14, 15, 16. Regardless of the legal age, there will always be people who don't abide by the laws, so it doesn't make a difference whether it's 18 or 21 years old. People are going to drink when they feel like it, not when the law dictates they can. Personally though, i think drinking alcohol any younger than 18 is fucking stupid, even 18 is a bit too young.

What concerns me the most about lowering the drinking age is the period between lowering the drinking age in America and the period where society/young kids are accustomed to it and view drinking like teenagers in other countries (with no drinking age or a very young one, like 14) do. That may be an entire generation or two. It would be complete chaos, and drunk driving accidents, property vandalism, injuries due to intoxication, etc. would probably increase exponentially due to all the 18 year olds who were expecting to have to wait 3 more years but can suddenly go to bars at 18.

Believe it or not, this USED to be the law. In the days of the draft, if you were in the army, you could drink on base at least if you were 18. I guess they changed it when they removed the draft, so since no one is being forced to be in the Army anymore I guess the drinking age argument would still be invalid.

I don't think there should be a drinking age because performing an illegal act such as underage drinking makes a great form of "rebellion" for teenagers and very appealing. I mean teenagers do it anyway no matter if it is illegal or not so maybe eliminating a drinking age will teach kids to drink in moderation and not binge.

just use your military ID which doesn't have your age on it, and you're good

Wasn't this just homepaged today?

How is this a POTD?

I don't see how you can enforce it. How do you prove to someone you're in the military? Do you have to be in uniform? or produce some certificate? then people just fake these and it leads to more underage drinking. Then why should only those in the military be allowed to drink? why not parents under 21? or those working full time?

my question is why is this POTD...

The drinking age should be lowered, the driving age should be raised and public transportation should be improved. Also, if anyone is caught driving drunk, revoke their license for a year. If it happens again, revoke it for life, with no exceptions.

People in the army are stupid for even signing up. Then they whine about everyone dying. Like wtf don't go if you're gonna bitch.