Why not avoid artificially grouping those age restrictions out of an artificial sense of "fairness"? I was one of the previously rabid "if you can be sent to war you should be able to have a drink" back in my teens. The two topics aren't related. I insisted that they were to the ends of the earth before, but they aren't. Alcohol is a dangerous trap. Having the age be 21, even with some sneaking it early, is smart. 18 year olds don't need to try to deal with alcohol when 50 year olds can have a hard time with it. Your time will come.

When I was in my teens and 20s, I felt like older people were just rigging the rules for their benefit. As I approach 40, let me tell you younger folks something (even if it's useless), we are all on the same team and we're trying to make things the best we can (for you too). And when you get to this age, you'll do the same and younger people will rail at you the same way.

>When I was in my teens and 20s, I felt like older people were just rigging the rules for their benefit. As I approach 40, let me tell you younger folks something (even if it's useless), we are all on the same team and we're trying to make things the best we can (for you too).

This isn't true at all, at least in America. The Boomers are absolutely pushing for policies that will benefit them at the expense of younger generations. The refusal to reduce carbon emissions and their desire to increase coal mining and usage is a big example of this.

Consider the possibility that they are wiser, having been through some hard times, and might like to leave a functioning economy for the younger generations.

You're not going to have a functioning economy with the massive climate problems that are coming, along with the Boomer's refusal to invest in infrastructure. If you look at how the Boomers vote, all they care about is the "invading" "Mexicans", abortion, and lower taxes for rich people. Basically, they're a bunch of greedy racists who vote to shoot down any attempt to improve the economy through things like better taxation of the class that can afford to pay more taxes, and better infrastructure for all of us.

No, they're not wiser at all, and they haven't been through any hard times. You're thinking of their parents who went to war in WWII. Those people are mostly dead now. The Boomers are their spoiled, greedy children, who are mostly to blame for the state of this nation now.

I think the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 oil crisis both count as hard times. You seem to wish that the Boomers would vote for a self-inflicted oil crisis.

It's also hard to keep the lower class employed with a living wage if low-cost migrants keep underbidding them for employment.

While the Boomers haven't always made great decisions, this us-vs-them thinking neglects that the Boomers generally care about their descendants. Boomers do not wish to see their grandchildren suffering.

>It's also hard to keep the lower class employed with a living wage if low-cost migrants keep underbidding them for employment.

Then maybe the Boomers should vote for higher taxes and better social services. That's what advanced nations do, after all, and they don't have these problems.

Yeah, now tell that to the adults that have had to pay fines and their license revoked because of drinking.

Nothing prevents you in Japan from drinking and smoking before 20. You just can't buy such goods directly, but it's well known that people get it thru other means (via a third party, friends, parents, etc...).

I lived in Japan when I was 19, and I never once was asked for ID when buying alcohol, neither at a store nor a bar. It seemed to be largely the honor system, since you could buy alcohol from vending machines. Although when one bartender found out my age, he said it wasn't a problem since I wasn't Japanese. Go figure.

A big club in Tokyo was the only place I was ever asked, and even there I was waved right through. Apparently, they were just checking for "gang affiliation".