Written by Frank Li
I believe I have the most accurate diagnosis for America (Diagnosis for America (Version 3)) as well as the best solution (Solution for America (Version 3)).
One key component of my solution is to restore the minimum voting age of 21 (from 18), by repealing the Twenty-sixth Amendment!
1. What is the 26th Amendment?
Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia – Twenty-Sixth Amendment:
The Twenty-sixth Amendment (Amendment XXVI) to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and the federal government from using age as a reason for denying citizens of the United States who are at least eighteen years old the right to vote. The drive to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 grew across the country during the 1960s, driven in large part by the broader student activism movement protesting the Vietnam War.
2. What’s wrong with the 26th Amendment?
One image is worth 1,000 words!
Bottom line: Is democracy a serious matter? If yes, why isn’t voting treated as seriously as drinking is in America?
3. Two wrongs do not make one right!
The Vietnam War was wrong (America: A Culture of War), so was the Twenty-Sixth Amendment!
Why was the Vietnam War wrong? Ask former Presidents Bill Clinton or George W. Bush!
Why is the Twenty-Sixth Amendment wrong? Let’s go back to 1776 …
Our wise Founding Fathers set the minimum voting age to be 21 on the first day of our republic in 1776 (U.S. voting rights timeline)! The two biggest wars in our history (i.e. American Civil War and World War II) did not change it, but the relatively minor Vietnam War did! Why? Two reasons:
- The left seized the Vietnam War as an opportunity to push the country further to the left by significantly increasing the size of the pool of uninformed, Stupid Voters!
- The right caved in to assuage its own guilt for waging the Vietnam War in the first place!
In short, both the left and the right were appeased, at the expense of the long-term well-being of the country!
Bottom line: if “old enough to fight, old enough to vote†was the slogan behind the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, why did not the Civil War generation or the WWII generation demand it?
Here is the answer: these two generations were truly among the greatest generations of Americans: they sacrificed a lot for America, but asked little in return!
How does that make Generation X look like? A totally spoiled generation! More specifically, Generation X got a free-ride to prosperity after WWII and, along the way, sowed the seeds for America to fail spectacularly down the road! Three worst examples:
- Executive Order 10988, allowing public-sector workers to unionize against the people of the United States of America! For more, read: Detroit, Public-Sector Unions, and JFK.
- Great Society, turning America into a utopian society in which even work has become optional for many! For more, read: Civil Rights Act: 50 Years Later.
- Twenty-sixth Amendment, perpetually pushing America to the left!
4. Democracy
Democracy is a proven failure throughout human history. For example, democracy is failing in modern Greece (and America) for the same reason it failed in ancient Greece more than 2,000 years ago: debt!
What is the main reason behind the debt in most, if not all, democracies? Liberal social spending, thanks to Democratic Socialism!
To compound it for America, we have the additional burden of outrageous war spending, thanks to Democratic Imperialism!
By restoring the minimum voting age to 21, we can reduce Liberal social spending. Any doubt? Look at this quote (attributed to Winston Churchill, presumably):
Still wondering why democracy has been failing worldwide? Churchill, again:
Self-serving politicians want easily manipulated Stupid Voters! For example, Liberal politicians worldwide have been taking advantage of the youth population by constantly pushing down the minimum voting age! For more, read: Wikipedia – Voting age.
5. Discussion
There are 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Only one of them has ever been appealed (i.e. Prohibition: Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution). So it’s a long shot to repeal the Twenty-sixth Amendment. Meanwhile, America will continue to decline, just like all the other democracies (e.g. Greece).
If America is truly exceptional, correcting a serious mistake is the best way to demonstrate her exceptionalism. But I am afraid America will ultimately prove to be unexceptional at all!
Bottom line: is experience needed for making intelligent choices?
If yes, then two basic questions:
- At what age is a voter better prepared to vote wisely: 18 or 21?
- Given the fact that the minimum voting age was set to be 21 in 1776, when the life expectancy was only 36, shouldn’t we double it to 42 today after our life expectancy has more than doubled to 75? But we lowered it, instead!
Our Founding Fathers were all wise, but imperfect, men! They did not get everything right (e.g. slavery), but they got most things absolutely right, including the minimum voting age as well as the minimum age for the American Presidency! As our life expectancy has doubled from 1776, we should have increased all the minimum ages accordingly (e.g. American Presidency: Starting at Age 55-65!), instead of lowering any!
With the Twenty-sixth Amendment, America will inevitably evolve into a nation with only one major political party, the bad one (i.e. the Democratic Party with the extreme left only), thus destroying America with Liberal social spending!
In contrast, China (as well as Singapore) also has only one major political party, the good one: the Republican Party without the extreme right (e.g. the war hawks)! That, in essence, is the real difference between America and China (as well as Singapore) today! For more, read: “Communist Chinaâ€, Really?
6. Closing
The Twenty-sixth Amendment is a mistake! Repealing it is the minimum first step America must take to give democracy any chance to survive!
Think, America!
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