Why are 18 and 21 the ages the law determines as maturity levels?

Question

Why is 18 and 21 the ages the law considers landmarks when determining maturity?

Why 18 and 21? maybe 18 makes sense, as that's the year most people are seniors in highschool, but whats with 21? 21 is a rather random number. Why not 20? or 25? What politician said "It's perposterous to suppose a 20 year old can do that... Make it 21"

Also, the order at which certain things are don't seem to make much sense in many instances. The leading cause for death and injury, ever, cars, can be driven at age 16 in my state, but the same person cannot smoke a cigarrete. People can join the military and die for their country at age 17 but cannot vote. People can open-carry a firearm in public without a license at age 18, but cannot go down to the bar and have a drink. People can own a house and pay taxes at age 16 but cannot vote for the politicians that they pay them to..

It's as if these magical numbers are based on nothing. I don't get it.

Answer 1

They are arbitrary numbers - proven by the fact that only the US has ages of reason (drinking alcohol etc.) set at 21.

Most countries have 15, 16, 17 and 18 as those numbers.

It's a sort of "test the wind with a wet finger" sort of thing.

Sorry...

Answer 2

During the Vietnam war many states changed the age limit for drinking alcohol from 21 to 18 and it was quickly returned to 21 in most, probably all states.  This was due in part at least to your friendly insurance industry, they wanted and the politicians obliged in kind, the insurance industry essentially owns the state legislatures and federal government, they pay millions of dollars to the politicians re-election committees and expect favors in turn and get it.  This is how your government actually works, with kickbacks, bribes and money laundering at every level, its all about money.

Answer 3

ehh people have strange minds ...

Answer 4

You are absolutely right. None of the age limits make any sense whatsoever. It is age discrimination and should be illegal. Once you are 18 you are an adult citizen and should have the same rights and abide by the same set of laws as everyone else in society. States should be prohibited from raising gun ownership ages above 18 for any type of firearm. I also believe a law that prohibited hard alcohol until 18 would be fair because of its potential danger to young people. I don't see any need to regulate other alcohol beverages like beer and wine though. That is my thoughts on it.

Some people don't fully mature until even after 21 years old. Drinking is something that a vast majority of high school aged kids experiment with. By having alcohol illegal it actually encourages high schoolers to do other illegal drugs that are more easily available.

The reason the age limit is so high on alcohol though is because the anti-alcohol extremists have been unsuccessful at banning it altogether since the end of prohibition. So now they have been trying to push the age limit higher and higher instead. The objective is to ban as many people from drinking as possible. It really has nothing to do with maturity.

Answer 5

Agreed. The whole system needs to be re-thought, and re-done. There's so much **** like this in our government that is completely contradictory, and in need of serious change. A lot of that stuff is so old and traditional it really has nothing to do with logic, and more to do with the way society was when the laws were introduced.

I'm hoping that sometime in the future these things will be revised, and a system that actually makes sense will be introduced. THAT will be the day. But who knows if that will actually happen.

But eh, I guess that's America.

Answer 6

some people never become "mature" no matter what age. it becomes apparant when the occasionally blow their cover. or else, maybe nobody ever changes, they just learn to wear the face of maturity.