Me, neither. That’s why the article loses credibility to me by positioning the two side-by-side.

I like it a lot, but I’m worried I’ll fall back into endless scrolling that I enjoyed breaking away from after leaving reddit.

It’s impossible to discuss topics like this and leave the bias of the website aside; further down in the article, when they’re not talking about the tweet, they say asking people to refrain from using gendered language when they don’t know the gender of their opponent is “creating an atmosphere of fear”:

The irony of the NSDA’s obsession with “safety” is that it actually fuels an atmosphere of fear among students—the fear that they will lose if they once said the wrong thing on Twitter or accidentally refer to their competitor as Miss. This fear is palpable. The NSDA debates—once a forum for the open exchange of ideas—have become a minefield of political correctness, says NSDA student Briana Whatley, 15, of Miramar, Florida.

That makes it clear that this isn’t about high school debate at all; it’s about the ongoing push to scapegoat trans people. And that isn’t a topic that is up for debate or discussion.

Hmm, yeah, I think we have fundamentally different positions if you see the average teen voting for less policing to be ill informed or disastrous. I don’t mean this in a snarky way, I mean I think we would have a lot of ground to cover before agreeing on this point one way or another.

The one thing I would consider is you probably don’t know what the average teen in your community thinks, because they do not have a political voice. Sure, they can attend community council meetings, but why do that when they aren’t able to choose who sits on that council? Teens being disengaged from community issues and teens not being able to have input on community issues are fundamentally linked.

I think these are fair points and definite possibilities! I don’t, however, know that I’d agree that these hypotheticals are enough to deny voting rights for local and school elections (remember, the 16 year olds won’t be voting for Bush in this scenario). So I don’t know if money and propaganda is quite so influential at that small scale–I haven’t found it to be in the past. Most people don’t even know their local elections are happening, much less know who the party line says to vote for.

Sure, and this is another gradation of voting; this would only be for local and school elections, which can have pretty immediate consequences for teens. In fact, 16 year olds (and others around that age) are the best positioned to have a say about school board policy, because they have been and currently are directly affected.

I do appreciate your perspective that a ‘stepwise’ system of adulthood can have huge benefits. I think this proposal actually fits quite nicely into it. They aren’t voting for president; they’re voting for the who will run the place they spend 8 hours per day.

Is there any part of this argument that does not also apply to college students? This is a genuine question, not intended as a gotcha. We allow 18 year olds to vote although they are subjected to many of the same pressures and inexperiences.

I also like weird cars. Old cars, used cars. Just because it’s a useful object, as many in the thread have pointed out, doesn’t mean it’s not a special useful object. It takes me and my wife and our dogs on many road trips.

What makes a car special to me are the modifications we put into it to make it OURS. My grandmother-in-law has completely removed the back seats for her minivan and installed blankets and carpet there instead so her dog is more comfortable. I love that. It’s shaped around her and her life.

Thanks for all the info, very thoughtful and detailed!

I’m very curious to hear about the attempts you’re referencing in your second paragraph!