Hopo-Sempai
I guess my point is that if your 10 and you know your stuff Vivad! You can be an idiot at any age. Not addressing information provided you and sticking with the party line no matter right or wrong is stupidity in it's self. It is this lack of flexability that scares me about these little brown shirt Bush Youth types!
That's not the point; politically-astute kids exist and some of them frequent this forum.
The point is that gloating about age in regards to voting is pointless, because the (particularly) EXPERIENCE and knowedge levels between kids don't vary all that much. I mean, what's the difference between a fourteen- and an eighteen-year-old in terms of political experience? Neither have gotten to vote and neither of them likely remember more than one administration or the current sitting president, and both base their knowledge on limited experience but possibly lots of reading.
Not only that, but the fourteen-year-old may have gotten involved in local youth politics or volunteered as part of a local campaign, while the eighteen year old may simply be well-read- is the fourteen-year-old then suddenly less educated than the eighteen-year-old because of incremental age differences?
If you're going to mock a kid for being a kid, do it when you haven't BEEN one for at least, oh, five years. That gives you at least a couple presidential elections (and local elections) with which to form experience and context. For example, I remember Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. That helps to give perspective on issues like trickle-down economics (seeing it in action), Republican vs. Liberal administrations (grade school, high school, college-age), the first Iraq War (high school), Kosovo (college-age), fiscal moderation (liberal administration, college-age), Clinton's escapades (college-age), Bush's term, 9/11, the new Iraq war, etc.
And I'm only 30, several regs have me beat by more than a decade.
That does shape one's knowledge base. I can state with assurance that Clinton was a very moderate liberal, because I clearly remember his Administration. I remember the first Iraq war, and can use my approval of it to counter allegations that I am an anti-war hippie who hates wars only because they are waged by Republicans (in fact, I was accused in high school of being a heartless, inhumane - US - republican for that support). I can say with assurance that Democrat Administrations are not necessarily fiscally-irresponsible, because I remember the Clinton years. I can't just point to abook and say it, I can say that via experience and that does shape my political views.
This doesn't mean that a kid's political views are irrelevant. Intelligence and logic go a long way, kids will cast their first votes while relying on their own knowledge, beliefs, and experience (as well as their parents'). A kid in touch with politics will theoretically produce a more astute and knowledgeable adult.
But kids arguing with kids about their age and political experience (relying on age as the basis) is bullshit. None of them have more than a couple years of experience, while those that actually do (via volunteering or political programs at school or whatnot) may have way more than the older kid.
I realise that this may sound backhandedly ageist, but it really isn't. I wish all kids got into politics, a lot of problems going on today in America might not be happening if more young adults started voting and started voting with a reasonably-informed opinion. Some of the kids in ED Pol really give me hope, because I don't remember this many kids being into politics when I was one.
Also I must note the irony that the vast majority of older regs are liberal independents. ^^
