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Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16
The New York Times ^ | March 2, 2018 | Laurence Steinberg

Posted on 03/04/2018 9:25:53 AM PST by Trump20162020

The young people who have come forward to call for gun control in the wake of the mass shooting at their high school in Parkland, Fla., are challenging the tiresome stereotype of American kids as indolent narcissists whose brains have been addled by smartphones. They offer an inspiring example of thoughtful, eloquent protest.

Unfortunately, when it comes to electing lawmakers whose decisions about gun control and other issues affect their lives, these high schoolers lack any real power. This needs to change: The federal voting age in the United States should be lowered from 18 to 16.

Skeptics will no doubt raise questions about the competence of 16-year-olds to make informed choices in the voting booth. Aren’t young people notoriously impulsive and hotheaded, their brains not fully developed enough to make good judgments?

Yes and no. When considering the intellectual capacity of teenagers, it is important to distinguish between what psychologists call “cold” and “hot” cognition.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: 16yearold; 16yearolds; 16yearsold; 2018election; 2020election; election2018; election2020; elections; electoralcollege; faithlesselectors; laurencesteinberg; nationalpopularvote; npv; teen; teenager; teenagers; teens; voters; voting
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To: Trump20162020

Young people today are particularly vulnerable to the influence of the mas media and ent4ertinment industry. The majority are not very serious about life until they reach 25 or so.

So I propose a new age requirement for voting - 25 years. It makes just as much sense as the NYT’s, and I am sticking to it.


101 posted on 03/04/2018 10:35:21 AM PST by Gumdrop
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To: Trump20162020
16? 14!!


102 posted on 03/04/2018 10:35:26 AM PST by pabianice (LINE)
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To: Trump20162020

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Raise voting age to 25-30. :)


103 posted on 03/04/2018 10:36:12 AM PST by ataDude (.)
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To: JoeRed

I hate to sound callous, but let’s look at this pragmatically. Who can do more damage to our nation?
A. 8 million immature blithering idiots who haven’t paid a nickel in taxes in the voting booth?
B. One or two mass murders per year killing 10 or 20 of those 8 million?


104 posted on 03/04/2018 10:40:43 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: deweyfrank
16? It should be at least 30.

AMEN! I'll drink to that...should also own property and pay state and federal taxs...lots of skin in the game.

105 posted on 03/04/2018 10:40:49 AM PST by yoe
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To: Ann Archy
Correction: Kids are so dumb and gullible today....nothing more than sheep.
106 posted on 03/04/2018 10:41:36 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: NY.SS-Bar9

Add...
• Set the sexual age of consent to 16
• Get an abortion without parental approval (oh, wait)
• Get their gender changed without parental approval (oh, darn...wait again)


107 posted on 03/04/2018 10:43:22 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Trump20162020

My proposal for voting eligibility.

18 or older, AND, either, serving in the military, employed full time, a mother of minor children not receiving any form of welfare, and those 62 or older and retired from any of those circumstance.

And a category for the independently wealthy who are self-supporting with no need for employment.


108 posted on 03/04/2018 10:44:44 AM PST by Will88
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To: Right Brother

“16 - right smack dab in the middle of their high school leftist indoctrination.”

You raise a good point. Maybe the indoctrination isn’t sufficiently completed by age 16 and too many of those kids will still listen to Mom & Dad. Perhaps liberals haven’t thought this through. They should allow them to vote when the indoctrination is complete.


109 posted on 03/04/2018 10:44:50 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: dead
They want to move the needle towards more Democratic voters, whether they come from prisons, drug clinics, third world shitholes, nuthouses or nurseries. The tally is the only issue they care about.

Hit the nail on the head there, Dead. They also tap geriatric alzheimers patients and group homes for the mentally disabled to vote Dem by either filling our their ballot for them (I've personally seen this in my family) or getting them to vote multiple times by bussing them around to different precincts.

110 posted on 03/04/2018 10:47:02 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Trump20162020

Because they are naive and malleable enough to listen to whatever BS the MSM covers them with?

Sorry but more and more I have come to realize that this culture seems intent on keeping older teens in a state of perpetual adolescence (except for sex, that is one adult activity they are encouraged to experience)making this generation among the least mature I have known. It as gone so far that I even have doubts about 21 years of age being adult. The new adult may be 25 years of age or even older.

So to suggest lowering the voting age is simply an acknowledgment of how easily lead and manipulated teens of today are. Besides if it is too young for them to marry ...?


111 posted on 03/04/2018 10:47:29 AM PST by lastchance (Credo.)
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To: RoosterRedux

Age 40, male property owners only, and States choose Senators, not the hoi polloi. Rapid improvement.


112 posted on 03/04/2018 10:48:50 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: eyeamok

I disagree. A person who does not own property that still has a stake in the political decisions made by elected officials and their agencies.


113 posted on 03/04/2018 10:50:33 AM PST by lastchance (Credo.)
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To: Trump20162020

The goal here is to get the kiddies to pass local millage increases. People who don’t have to pay taxes are all for raising them, to show how nice they are supporting whaterer is proposed.


114 posted on 03/04/2018 10:52:38 AM PST by Mark was here (Fake news = "Hands up ... Dont shoot")
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To: Trump20162020
Simple: to elect more Democrats. There's no other earthly reason.

Why refuse voter id laws? Simple: to elect more Democrats.

Why restore voting rights to felons? Simple: to elect more Democrats.

Anything to do with vote tampering, you can be sure it's to prop up the Democrats, who are losing on the issues.

115 posted on 03/04/2018 10:55:04 AM PST by IronJack (A)
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To: Trump20162020
challenging confirming the tiresome stereotype of American kids as indolent narcissists whose brains have been addled by smartphones.

There fixed it.

116 posted on 03/04/2018 10:55:13 AM PST by super7man (Madam Defarge, knitting, knitting, always knitting)
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To: Mark was here

It would make sense to allow those whose names are on a warranty deed to vote in elections regarding property issues such as zoning changes and tax levies even if they are not yet 18. The problem is that those are usually not stand alone issues but added to an overall ballot.


117 posted on 03/04/2018 10:55:51 AM PST by lastchance (Credo.)
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To: Ann Archy
Kids are so dumb and gullible today....nothing more than sheep.

That's why the New York Times wants them voting...

118 posted on 03/04/2018 10:57:00 AM PST by GOPJ (Mexican illegals compromise our elections WITH HELP FROM DEMOCRATS, not Russians.)
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To: Trump20162020

16? Why not 4? After all, teenagers often become rebellious and to their own way, which might not work for liberals hoping that mental conditioning in schools will work to their advantage. But a 4-year-old will do as told and that’s a good thing if we can fill pre-school and kindergarten with blatant liberal politics, and vote for longer school days to keep them away from interfering parents.


119 posted on 03/04/2018 10:57:05 AM PST by DPMD
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To: Trump20162020

More nonsense from left wing idiots.


120 posted on 03/04/2018 10:58:23 AM PST by Tudorfly (All things are possible within the will of God.)
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