Splicetoday

Pop Culture
Sep 03, 2008, 07:11AM

Not all ideas are created equal—that, and other news from the "War on the Drinking Age"

In a response to the Amethyst Initiative (a think tank arguing to lower the drinking age to 18), Phil Schurrer of Bowling Green State University goes the low(ish) road by claiming "this is not a debate worth having" and then leaving it at that. We try not to editorialize (or drink) too much here at Splice, but we don't think that's particularly fair treatment to an issue that concerns tragic, preventable deaths. Debate away, please.

What the Amethyst Initiative says is college administrators have thrown up their hands in despair and are attempting to shift the problem to the legislators or the parents or society or whomever. So, they recommend renewed "study" of the issue.

However, prolonged study can create "analysis paralysis," and is sometimes a smokescreen to conceal a significant anatomical defect: the lack of backbone. When extended "study and debate" is recommended, somewhere some administrator or supervisor or leader may be afraid of making a decision.

Back in the early 1970's the drinking age was lowered, partly due to the clouded logic concurrent with the Vietnam War. (There was much clouded logic then.) Simply stated: if a man is old enough to be drafted and sent away to combat, he should be old enough to enjoy a beer. (No mention was made of females. Guess they didn't drink in those days.) The fallacy, of course, is equating the maturity required for the military with that required for responsible alcoholic consumption.

Discussion
  • Yes, the idea that the current drinking age of 21 creates binge drinkers is bogus. However, I think it should be lowered to 18, a time when a person becomes an "adult" or should. As has been noted over and over, in Western Europe the culture of drinking is more civilized in the US, with parents more involved.

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