Lower the drinking age...

[Roughidle]

And I ask a simple question; is it time to start moving back towards individual responsibility or do we keep moving away from it?

The public long ago has indicated they do not want responsibility for their own lives. They blindly have given and continue to offer up their individual freedoms for promised security. This used to be a nation of strong individuals. Now it's becoming a pen of soft bellied slaughter pigs.

 

[Larry Gude]

Yes...

The public long ago has indicated they do not want responsibility for their own lives. They blindly have given and continue to offer up their individual freedoms for promised security. This used to be a nation of strong individuals. Now it's becoming a pen of soft bellied slaughter pigs.

...it absolutely boils down to we, the people.

And that's the good news. We can change our society. For the worse and for the better.

 

[Tonio]

And I ask a simple question; is it time to start moving back towards individual responsibility or do we keep moving away from it?

Excellent point. Some European nations allow kids to start drinking at age 17 or 18, but do not grant drivers' licenses until 20 or 21, and I think that is worth considering here. I would be curious to know those nations' incidence of drunk driving fatalities.

...that's the catch-22 with drinking; it's not a particularly mature thing to do. We don't drink to nourish our bodies, we drink to get drunk to some degree. The maturity comes in choosing with who you drink with, where you drink, when your drink and how much you drink. I call it 'handling your buzz'.

I don't like getting drunk, for three reasons.

First, I've been drunk twice in my life and experienced severe nausea and body aches both times, and this was within an hour or two after having consumed the alcohol. The old expression "sleep it off" was a cruel joke - it was at least an hour before I could fall asleep because I hurt so badly.

Second, I don't like having my senses impaired. My feet felt numb, and with each step my foot felt like it was going through the floor.

Third, it took me decades to control my tendency to talk people's ears off (because I am nervous around people), and when I got drunk that sense of self-control disappeared.

 

[Bustem' Down]

This is what I've always looked at. If you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough to drink. The age of consent and responsibility should be across the board. If the drinking age is going to be 21, then the age to die for your country should be 21.

I always have to go round and round with guys who use that excuse at mast or what not when they get caught underage drinking. Whether it's fair or not, I tell them, it is the law and in the UCMJ.

 

[mAlice]

I always have to go round and round with guys who use that excuse at mast or what not when they get caught underage drinking. Whether it's fair or not, I tell them, it is the law and in the UCMJ.

I thought we were discussing the law?

 

[Larry Gude]

Tonio...

Excellent point. Some European nations allow kids to start drinking at age 17 or 18, but do not grant drivers' licenses until 20 or 21, and I think that is worth considering here. I would be curious to know those nations' incidence of drunk driving fatalities.



I don't like getting drunk, for three reasons.

First, I've been drunk twice in my life and experienced severe nausea and body aches both times, and this was within an hour or two after having consumed the alcohol. The old expression "sleep it off" was a cruel joke - it was at least an hour before I could fall asleep because I hurt so badly.

Second, I don't like having my senses impaired. My feet felt numb, and with each step my foot felt like it was going through the floor.

Third, it took me decades to control my tendency to talk people's ears off (because I am nervous around people), and when I got drunk that sense of self-control disappeared.

...all I can say is that practice makes perfect.

 

[Coventry17]

I always have to go round and round with guys who use that excuse at mast or what not when they get caught underage drinking. Whether it's fair or not, I tell them, it is the law and in the UCMJ.

When I went to "C" school in San Diego, you were allowed to drink on base at 18 because the Navy figured if they didn't let you drink, you'd go down to Tiajuana and get drunk. They have since done away with that policy. I used to hear that argument all the time, as well.

 

[Bustem' Down]

When I went to "C" school in San Diego, you were allowed to drink on base at 18 because the Navy figured if they didn't let you drink, you'd go down to Tiajuana and get drunk. They have since done away with that policy. I used to hear that argument all the time, as well.

Along with drugs it's now Zero Tolerance. I've always thought it would be better if base clubs were 18 and up to drink and have a large shore patrol presence there. They would then have a controlled place to drink.

 

[sockgirl77]

Well, obviously our "age of consent" laws are all hosed up. Like Elaine reiterated from the article, at 18 you're old enough to serve in the military, get married, vote, live on your own...but not drink? That's just stupid.

 

[Tonio]

...all I can say is that practice makes perfect.

I don't understand what is pleasurable about being intoxicated. People can be scary when they're drunk because their behavior is unpredictable. My grandfather was an alcoholic for decades, and he would either rant profanely and incoherently against everybody and everything, or sit around in a besotted haze.

 

[mAlice]

I don't understand what is pleasurable about being intoxicated. People can be scary when they're drunk because their behavior is unpredictable. My grandfather was an alcoholic for decades, and he would either rant profanely and incoherently against everybody and everything, or sit around in a besotted haze.

We're not really discussing how people behave when they're drunk. We're discussing the laws regarding the age of consent.

 

[ylexot]

I don't understand what is pleasurable about being intoxicated. People can be scary when they're drunk because their behavior is unpredictable. My grandfather was an alcoholic for decades, and he would either rant profanely and incoherently against everybody and everything, or sit around in a besotted haze.

It lowers inhibitions :shrug:

 

[Tonio]

We're not really discussing how people behave when they're drunk. We're discussing the laws regarding the age of consent.

Valid point. I'm really talking about the temptation to drink, and teens seem much more vulnerable to the temptation than adults. I don't understand the temptation.

 

[Bustem' Down]

Valid point. I'm really talking about the temptation to drink, and teens seem much more vulnerable to the temptation than adults. I don't understand the temptation.

It's cool.

 

[Roughidle]

Valid point. I'm really talking about the temptation to drink, and teens seem much more vulnerable to the temptation than adults. I don't understand the temptation.

The temptation to drink stems from the fact that they can't do it legally. The thrill of breaking the law and getting away with it. Add to that, the glamourization of boozing it up and grinding it out by the patio pool in the video dejour and there ya have your temptation or allure.

 

[ylexot]

Valid point. I'm really talking about the temptation to drink, and teens seem much more vulnerable to the temptation than adults. I don't understand the temptation.

:shrug:

 

[mAlice]

The temptation to drink stems from the fact that they can't do it legally. The thrill of breaking the law and getting away with it. Add to that, the glamourization of boozing it up and grinding it out by the patio pool in the video dejour and there ya have your temptation or allure.

I agree. Alcohol has never been a forbidden fruit in our house, so our daughter is a responsible drinker. When she drinks, she stays put or calls someone for a ride.

 

[Tonio]

Ylexot, I don't want my inhibitions lowered because then I'll do incredibly stupid things, and it would be an evasion of responsibility if I blamed that behavior on the alcohol.

And the idea that beer would have helped me get laid in college is laughable - except for one questionable incident which I wrote about in another thread, I never had a female classmate proposition me, drunk or sober.

 

[mAlice]

Ylexot, I don't want my inhibitions lowered because then I'll do incredibly stupid things, and it would be an evasion of responsibility if I blamed that behavior on the alcohol.

And the idea that beer would have helped me get laid in college is laughable - except for one questionable incident which I wrote about in another thread, I never had a female classmate proposition me, drunk or sober.

It was supposed to laughable. It was a joke.

Tonio, you're pinning the stigmatism of a few on the masses. Not everyone who drinks gets falling down, puking, stupid, drunk. Not everyone who drinks gets behind the wheel of a vehicle and runs over people.

I've taken my fair share of cabs, crashed at somebody's house, slept in my back seat, pre-positioned the RV, gotten a room within walking distance, etc.

 

[ylexot]

Ylexot, I don't want my inhibitions lowered because then I'll do incredibly stupid things, and it would be an evasion of responsibility if I blamed that behavior on the alcohol.

And the idea that beer would have helped me get laid in college is laughable - except for one questionable incident which I wrote about in another thread, I never had a female classmate proposition me, drunk or sober.

You were asking why others get drunk. I answered. :shrug: