-Caveat Lector- http://www.lewrockwell.com/sapienza/sapienza19.html Age of Consent Conspiracy Theories by Jeremy Sapienza I am an adult, as far as the Law is concerned. I can smoke cigarettes, own property, hold a job, and kill people in foreign countries for the government. I can sign a lease, own a shotgun, cast a vote, and am expected to give part of my income to the bureaucracy. Yes! I can go hurtling down the pavement in a two ton chunk of steel, within just feet of other vehicles...but I better not even think of having a beer! This has got to be one of the strangest phenomenons in American culture. The double standard of adulthood. I have always hated the fact that a "minor" could join the military, possibly putting himself in harm's way, but could not smoke a cigarette, which contrary to statist belief isn't nearly a millionth as evil as our imperialist armed forces. Since the moral or legislative basis of this phenomenon must be absolutely ridiculous, and, as I have pointed out in previous articles, I am magnetically drawn to theories of government- orchestrated conspiracies, I will point out some things that I have noticed in relation to the state's widely varying definitions of "minor" and "adult." Let's begin with military service. Why is it that the government has decided that you are old enough, at 17, to have your limbs blown off ina country whose name you cannot pronounce correctly, and that you may murder in masses the inhabitants of a particular country, but you cannot puff on a lit paper tube filled with dried, non- hallucinogenic leaves? Because their aim is not to protect you from harm. In this scenario you are one of two objects: a warrior getting loot and exerting power and influence in foreign countries and slaughtering anyone who objects, or a producer of wealth which they will eventually loot from you to finance further mass extranational murder sprees. As long as they can put you in one of the two categories, cannon fodder or host, they are content. If you refuse to be filed into one of the two groups, you are in danger of being annihilated by those whose wills you defy. The point is, you have to be alive for them to feed off you. They don't care so much if you die in the course of doing their bidding overseas. If you're doing that, you probably weren't such superstar entrepreneurial material anyhow. For the same reason they restrict our smoking and drinking and drug taking, they also let us drive cars, keep more than half of our money, hold private property. They can't stop us from doing things that annoy them slightly, things that they aren't allowed to deny us. They have to keep us in a state of "unrealization" so that we continue to produce for them. Exactly like Gene Callahan's Matrix analogy. they have to keep the majority of us content so that we ignore or never discover the evil goings-on of the institutionalized force racket. And they need to allow us some freedoms also so that they don't kill the economic goose that lays the golden eggs that live in the nest that the government raids to perpetuate its existence. The only reason they let adults drink at all is because it was proven in the 30s by such free-market heroes as Al Capone that they can't stop it! Back in my own personal Dark Ages, when I wasn't such a rabid libertarian, I used to say that it is unfair for legislation to be enacted governing the peaceful conduct of kids, because they cannot yet vote. Now, in my Enlightenment, I realize that the statement is correct, but its justification is flawed. Laws should not govern children, or decide their "age of consent." The age at which children mature varies between individuals. I wanted to drop out of school and move out at 16. Many kids move out earlier, some stay with their parents forever. But the ability to vote has nothing to do with whether one should be governed by others. None of us are morally beholden to any mandate of any government or any majority. It is wise to obey enforceable laws, nonetheless, because the bureaucrats have to legal right to relieve you of your life. I remember this every time I drive home from a friend's house after I've had a beer or two. I'm not a heavy drinker, and I've never given myself the chance to drive drunk, but Blood Alcohol Content computers don't determine if you are impaired, just that you have had a certain amount of spirituous beverage. Same goes for the jack-booted thugs we call "police." And if I'm caught with any liquor on my breath, regardless of the amount, I'll be in big trouble with Mr. Thug and his buddies because I'm under the federally mandated drinking age. It's a good thing that I completely ignored the laws governing nightclub and bar entry when I was younger. I started going out and partying when I was 15. Now, close to my 21st birthday, it's all out of my system, and I'm a productive member of society, instead of living off my parent's (or the government's) financial teat and just beginning to drink myself into a stupor until I'm 28. I just want to be able to go to a comedy club with my friends after work. Oh, well, only a little under a month to go until I'm "legal!" December 25, 2000 -- Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at its worst, an intolerable one. - Thomas Paine <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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