Ponder Place

Krystal wrote:
Why does the legal age to do ANYthing here (in the US) have to be 21?

When in Europe or other countries its 18. But at the same time we can get our licenses at 16 and sign up for the military at 18 but to drink is 21. I mean, I just turned 21, I don’t care really but I’m just wondering why is it so much stricter here than it is anywhere else in the world? I’ve always “ponder”ed that. ;)

Krystal, I’m afraid your criticism may be misdirected. Its a good effort, and I’m proud of it; but there are a few technicalities I’m worried about. I say the following as a friend…

Anything covers a whole lot of “things”. I cannot even begin to list the items which are covered under that banner. And its worth noting, that a large majority of the items covered by anything are legal to do under the age of 21.

You later mention drinking, which as I’m sitting here writing, is the only thing I can think of that you legally cannot do while under the age of 21.

If you really want to know, its due to the conservative viewpoints of those who migrated to America over 200 years ago.

That’s a facade.

The real reason is population control.

As human history unfolds there are often periods of time where the population of the human species requires “hedging”. Given that most people are not fond of being “hedged” there was need to find a natural method of bringing about a limitation to the human species.

It didn’t take long for the scientific community to stumble upon the perfect mechanism.

Stupidity.

We all know people are stupid. Its one of the more ironic discoveries made by mankind. The youth often give the appearance of being the most successful at stupid; upon further inspection it is concluded that this is due to their lack of experience and is dismissed as part of the short term personal evolution requirements.

There is even a website whose popularity is driven by the stupidity of the youth. You may have heard of it; a little place called youtube.com. Many examples of stupidity can be found in the archives of Youtube.

This isn’t to say all kids are stupid, but like all awesome democracies, the majority rules.

We also know that alcohol has a tendency to nullify any IQ level found within the partaking individual. Mix this effect with the stupidity of youth, and you will have a deadly concoction indeed.

It could very easily be argued that the age of 21 is far too young (based off the fact that most people retain their stupidity well into the later stages of life) but there is a point when the bird has to be let out of the nest, figuratively speaking. If the bird ends up falling to its death, so be it, such is evolution. Eliminate the stupid so the smart can survive.

Each of these age limits are given a heavy amount of consideration. The government puts the smartest brainiacs it has available in order to properly select each age limit for a given activity (license to drive, alcohol consumption, et cetera). These age limitations are adjusted according to the needs of population control.

There are other aspects to consider (such as China’s one birth per parent rule) but I want to hear what you guys think, have at it in the comments.