There was a time when only landowners could vote. I’m not saying that is the way it should be now, but I do think that voting eligibility should depend on a number of things – maturity, skin in the game and a bit of life experience all count as important factors in being able to cast a vote.
Put simply, if the government doesn’t think you are old enough to drink alcohol, then why on earth would it think you are responsible enough to choose a government?
Calls to drop the voting age, and to allow prisoners to vote, are made from the left of the political divide because they know damned well that young people will just about always vote Green and most prisoners will vote for parties on the left. There is no doubt that this is entirely self-serving for left-wing parties.
However, it makes no sense at all. 16-year-olds are simply not yet capable of making a reasoned decision on choosing the next government. Most 16-year-olds are focused mostly on getting through their first lot of public exams. They have no life experience; they have not left home; they have never worked and they have no idea how to handle money.
Remember the 16-year old Stuff activist whose idea to save the planet was to make cat toys out of toilet rolls? That is the mind of a 16-year-old for you. However, suggest that, to save the planet, she might have to give up her smartphone and you will really understand how the mind of a 16-year-old works.
At 16, you can get married, but only with parental consent. At 16, you cannot join the armed forces, or buy alcohol or cigarettes, hire a car, buy a house, be a company director, go to licensed premises, get a tattoo, or watch R18 movies (or play R18 video games). Gee, at 16, you can’t even apply for a driver’s license or be interviewed by the police without an adult being present. But the politicians think you are old enough and responsible enough to vote and they are campaigning to make it happen.
Of course, they don’t think that. Most 16-year-olds wouldn’t vote anyway. That is not the point though. This is just another way the left-wing parties want to bolster their share of the vote… by increasing eligibility of those sectors of the population that simply don’t have a clue about anything.
If that is the way that left-wing parties want to get into power, they should be ashamed of themselves; but they are not. For the left, getting into power is all that counts. It doesn’t matter how you get there, so long as you get there.
For the record, whist I do not want to discourage young people from getting ahead in life, I think there are things that they should wait for. As far as I am concerned, if society does not think you are responsible enough to buy alcohol – and there are repeated calls to increase the drinking age – then society does not think you are old enough to cast a vote. If you can’t be trusted with a beer, or to drive a car, then you cannot be trusted to choose the government. It is simple really. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t see it that way.
Oh, yes I do. Self-interest is a wonderful thing. Particularly if, like the Greens, you are hovering around the 5% threshold and are looking for a way to boost to your share of the vote.