We are a funny old country aren’t we?
Many here denounce the idea of 16yr olds being allowed to vote, but didn’t those same voices leap to praise a 12yr old attacking a peace protestor last week.
How a 12 ear old with a very warped pro-militaristic war apologist view of when one can and can’t protest in a democracy has more support than lowering the voting age is a reminder of how the dominant political power will alway elevate their narrative above everyone else.
If it’s good enough to cheer a 12 year old kid on in a political discussion and hold his opinion up as gospel then why aren’t we allowing that thinking to extend to 16 and 17 year olds?
16 and 17 year olds face the political realities of climate change in a way boomers who dominate our ballot boxes will never have to contemplate, and including them into our election process could be the largest force for change we’ve seen since universal suffrage.
It’s a pity we only think young people should have a voice when they parrot the petty bigotry of their elders.
I was horrified by the anti protest stance that many took. I tried to find some evidence of the Anzac day protests that took place during the Vietnam war. My cursory search didn’t find any but I do remember them. They were disparaged by the RSA.
Actually I had a mountaineering relative shot down over Germany…who landed in a tree( only he and one other survived from the Lancaster crew)…he spent the war in a prison of war camp for airmen and as the war was ending did the ‘Long March’ through Germany in freezing conditions. The airmen prisoner survivors were helped by their German guards to survive.
He hated war. He hated warmongers! He never said a bad word against the Germans…He actually never went to any RSA meetings or ANZAC Days….He was on the side of PEACE . War is a failure of humanity. ANZAC Day should be a day which promotes Peace and regret of war. He would have been on the side of the peace protester
It is important young people have opinions and can change them. It is important young people can vote because they are usually the canon fodder and pawns in war games created by politicians.
Nope, I am for keeping the voting age at 18 years. I thought a lot about lowering it, but many aged 16 and 17 lack enough maturity and understanding of political issues and solutions.
While that may also apply to some 18 year olds, generally 18 year olds are considered mature enough to do many things, so they should be allowed to vote.
As for that 12 year old, he is the product of his parents, I presume his father’s indoctrination, hence those thinking like the father would praise the boy for his “courage” to speak as he did.
Adults often love to praise the young ones – including kids that age – for whatever they do or say, that confirms their own views, biased or not. It says nothing about maturity and ability to make objective decisions and have objective views.
In that case why not bring the voting age down to 6 as they face the same challenges.
Like the 12 year olds there parents would teach them which box to tick.
Or introduce double votes for pregnant women, casting one extra one for the unborn child, for whom they “speak”, it is simply absurd, I presume.
whatever age you go into the army should be the age you have a vote…there are plenty of immature and fascist politicians around to send the young off to war
btw my vote now goes to the Greens …and away from NZF…thanks to Winston NZF supporting the shrill 12 year old boy and his NZF warmongering “fascist’ dad
…I thought Bill English handled the whole situation the best …he quoted a pacifist from last century who had been to war and said that people should have the right to protest on ANZAC Day ( credit where credit is due…but I wont vote Nact)
‘Bill English defends Anzac Day protests’
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/04/pm-defends-anzac-day-protests.html
“What we’re remembering on Anzac Day is people who gave their lives for freedom and part of that freedom is the ability to protest.”
He called the Wellington protest “minor” compared to previous years, and said he didn’t see any “misbehaving or disrespectful” behaviour.
“As long as people are acting within the law, they’re allowed to express a point of view,” Mr English said.
Mr English read a moving extract of The Silent Division by Ormond Edward Burton at the Wellington Anzac commemoration, describing the horrors of war.
When questioned over choosing a poem often used for pacifist demonstration, he said he “hadn’t looked into the history of it” but thought it was important “people understand the realities of war”.
Appalling grammar ” their parents”
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