May 13, 2014--Minimum Age

"Do you think at the military commissaries on our bases in Afghanistan, when soldiers return from patrol and ask for a beer, if they look younger than 21, they get carded?"

"What made you think of that?" I asked Rona.

"For some reason I've been thinking about age restrictions."

"Not just drinking?"

"In general."

"Specifically, I doubt that our troops get carded even though you can engage in combat well before you're twenty-one."

"That's my point. How setting minimum ages for things is often inconsistent and even hypocritical."

"I do remember back in the late 60s and 1970s when the 26th Amendment was passed to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, it was said to be unfair to draft 18 year-olds to fight and get killed in Vietnam but not allow them to vote."

"Or buy and smoke cigarettes."

"Also true."

"There's even some fringy thinking that says since young people mature more quickly today than in the past that the voting age should be lowered further."

"I've heard that. Would they allow 15 year-olds to vote?"

"Maybe. But the larger point when it comes to voting may not be about age at all."

"Meaning?"

"I'm not advocating," Rona said, "that we go back to the time when only men who were property owners could vote or . . ."

"Even if that 'property' was slaves?"

"Touché. Or maybe asking people to take a test to see if they have even a minimum understanding of the issues." I raised my hand to interrupt. Rona waved me off. "I know how tests of this kind in the past were used to block black people from voting. So that's off the table too."

"So then what's on the table?"

"I was reading recently about an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that underscored how people of different ages feel about issues. Which is not surprising. Younger people are more libertarian when it comes to cultural issues such as same-sex marriage and legalizing marijuana while older people have much stronger views about health care. They, for example, though they're on Medicare--which is a version of socialized medicine--are overwhelmingly opposed to Obamacare."

"For me that says it all--how older folks, who have great coverage paid for totally by taxes are so opposed to others having a version of the same thing. How selfish and self-centered can you get?"

"Which makes me wonder," Rona said, "though I know what I'm about to say makes little practical or constitutional sense, that if we think it's fair to set minimum ages for things maybe we should also set maximum ages for other things. For example, most companies have manditory retirement policies. And maybe we shouldn't allow 95 year-olds to drive."

"I could see that making sense. Maybe a relicensure test should be required after age 85. But if you're going where I think you're going, well . . ."

"Where might that be?"

"Setting a maximum age for voting."

Rona rocked back in her chair and just smiled.