Ken Boring, a NYRA member, did a good job of identifying different philosophic perspectives that draw people to youth rights and lead them to support our issues. There very well may be more than this, and I encourage everyone to suggest some, but I think he is off to a good start. He made this list of reasons why people support lowering the drinking age specifically:

1. People who have reached the age of majority should not be subjected to age-based restrictions. (Adult Egalitarianism)

2. People who are old enough to serve in the military should not be subjected to age-based restrictions. (Military Egalitarianism)

3. People have a human right to do whatever they choose with their bodies (so long as it doesn’t directly harm someone else), so they should not legally be prohibited from or punished for simply buying or consuming alcohol. (Civil Libertarianism)

4. It’s okay for consumption/purchase of a substance to be prohibited, but if it is, it must be done so for everyone or no one, not just a certain age group. (Universal Egalitarianism)

5. The drinking age should be lowered because it will reduce alcohol abuse and drunk driving, et cetera. (Utilitarianism)

This list of course could be applied to other issues such as lowering the voting age, where increasing voter turnout and participation in elections would be the Utilitarian reason to support lowering the age.

I am firmly in the Universal Egalitarianism category, and believe that is where NYRA properly should be.

The other perspectives are good and have much merit, but I don’t think its our place to advocate for them. For example the Civil Libertarian perspective would say that alcohol should not be banned or restricted, period. Doesn’t matter if it involves youth or not. If we adopted that as our guiding principle and by some bizarre state of affairs drinking were legalized for youth and outlawed for adults, we’d be bound to fight the restriction placed on adults. Thus we wouldn’t be a “youth rights” group, we’d just be an “anti-restriction” or libertarian group.

Also with the Utilitarian argument, I think it is a great benefit to our work and our positions, but it isn’t the most important in my mind. If lowering the drinking age actually did result in more alcohol problems (I don’t think that’d be the case) or if lowering the voting age didn’t increase voter turnout (I think it would increase) then I’d still support them. The Civil Rights issue (defined by Ken as Universal Egalitarianism) is preeminent in my mind.

Equality is the big issue for me. Stopping discrimination on the basis of age in all instances. How I, and perhaps a strict Civil Libertarian, would look at an issue would differ greatly. It could be said that I am less concerned with the good we are seeking (freedom) than with the process (equality). For example, recently on Fox News I spoke about cell phone bans for teen drivers. I believe these are wrong because they treat teens different than adults. Ultimately, for better or worse, I would prefer a cell phone ban for all drivers over a cell phone ban just for teen drivers.

A person from the Civil Libertarian perspective Ken described would call me crazy (or perhaps a fascist) because I’d prefer a situation where more people have less freedom. It doesn’t mean however that I support cell phone bans because if, given this choice, I’d choose a total ban on using cell phones while driving. In fact I do, from time to time, use a cell phone while driving, and would think a law against it would be a bothersome intrusion into my personal life and habits.

So am I a hypocrite? No. If I wanted to fight cell phone bans for all people, I’d do so with a different organization - not NYRA. Youth rights groups, in my opinion, should have nothing to say on issues wider than whether a law or policy discriminates on the basis of age.

This is a principle that cuts both ways. For example, I don’t support the death penalty. I think youth (and adults) are much better off if they never have to face the death penalty. Yet, because of my Universal Egalitarian perspective, I believe youth should be subject to the death penalty (or adults saved from it). Why would I wish something bad upon youth? Because I believe equality is far more important, and in the long run will have far more benefits.

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