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0 pointsElFitz1mo ago0 comments

> Age isn't an issue when all parties are adults.

I wouldn’t fully agree. All parties being adults doesn’t inherently remove the advantage very large age and experience gaps can give to one party over the other, especially when one is barely adult. 18 or 21 is just an arbitrary number, and one doesn’t suddenly become smart about these things just because the law says they are now legally full citizens, responsible for their acts and for themselves.

But I also agree it doesn’t make age gaps between adults inherently negative. It’s just… complicated.

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whynotminot1mo ago

Can we raise the age of adulthood from 18 to whatever acceptable age ends this discourse once and for all?

johnnyanmac1mo ago

Not without impacting other political aspects. Remember we only lowered the voting age to 18 some 50 years ago to justify the ability to send more kids to a war we started. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.

ElFitzOP1mo ago

It still strikes me that some places consider someone fully able to freely consent to enrol in the army, to the risk of getting permanently maimed or mentally scarred, and consider them fit to make life or death split-second decisions for both themselves and everyone around them under terror In highly stressful situations.

But can’t be allowed to have a beer or a whisky, and isn’t able to freely consent to sleep with someone five or ten years older.

I wonder what the official legal justification for this dichotomy is, if there is any.

Edit: after looking it up, there doesn’t seem to be one.

whynotminot1mo ago

We seem perfectly fine splitting up some aspects of adulthood, like 21 for drinking.

Dylan168071mo ago

Probably not, because there's inevitably a transition period.

whynotminot1mo ago

Sure, raise it past the transition period.

I’m tired of the pearl clutchers. Decide an age you’ll actually accept. That’s an adult. No more infantilization.

Dylan168071mo ago

You're not understanding my argument. Within the current way we do things, whatever age you pick is the age the transition period starts for a big fraction of people. Just picking a higher age doesn't work.

If anything, based on the median in the US right now, we should be introducing more self-determination earlier.

1 more reply

ElFitzOP1mo ago

Nothing to do with infantilizing anyone.

I’m probably stating the obvious, but some things are complex and don’t have good universal solutions. Which is part of why we have judges and lawyers, not just laws.

Dylan168071mo ago

There's some issues with someone that has very little experience being an adult. Once they have a couple years out of school and a couple years of being able to drink (if relevant), it's basically all the same.

miki1232111mo ago

With how fast the world is moving (especially in non-US, recently-ish westernized countries that had a lot of catching up to do over the last twenty-forty years, think former eastern bloc), things aren't so clear-cut.

There's a difference between a person who grew up watching video cassettes on their neighbor's VCR, and a person who (barely) watched recaps over 1MB/s DSL. Two completely different childhoods, two completely different cultural experiences, less than 15 years of age difference, both people have had "a couple years out of school and a couple years of being able to drink."

It's not unworkable, but it's quite like a relationship with somebody from a far-away foreign country, maybe without the language barrier.

Dylan168071mo ago

Sure there's a difference in the kind of things they're used to, but it's not giving anyone an advantage which is what the earlier posts were about. Maybe a small advantage to the younger one which is the opposite of the worry above.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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whynotminot1mo ago

Can we raise the age of adulthood from 18 to whatever acceptable age ends this discourse once and for all?

johnnyanmac1mo ago

ElFitzOP1mo ago

But can’t be allowed to have a beer or a whisky, and isn’t able to freely consent to sleep with someone five or ten years older.

I wonder what the official legal justification for this dichotomy is, if there is any.

Edit: after looking it up, there doesn’t seem to be one.

whynotminot1mo ago

We seem perfectly fine splitting up some aspects of adulthood, like 21 for drinking.

Dylan168071mo ago

Probably not, because there's inevitably a transition period.

whynotminot1mo ago

Sure, raise it past the transition period.

I’m tired of the pearl clutchers. Decide an age you’ll actually accept. That’s an adult. No more infantilization.

Dylan168071mo ago

If anything, based on the median in the US right now, we should be introducing more self-determination earlier.

1 more reply

ElFitzOP1mo ago

Nothing to do with infantilizing anyone.

I’m probably stating the obvious, but some things are complex and don’t have good universal solutions. Which is part of why we have judges and lawyers, not just laws.

Dylan168071mo ago

miki1232111mo ago

It's not unworkable, but it's quite like a relationship with somebody from a far-away foreign country, maybe without the language barrier.

Dylan168071mo ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse