The voting age should be changed - upwards

Teenagers aged 16 and over will be able to vote in the next British general election. This may be a good idea, but I can think of a heap of downsides.

The most obvious one is that 16-year-olds know little and are usually deeply confused - I know I was.

This confusion may be even greater nowadays because of the internet and the torrent of bilge in which their dear young hearts and heads are immersed.

Older people, in contrast, know stuff because they - we - have got experience. We remember the glorious predictions for how the internet would enhance democracy, for example. With the internet, didn't you know, everyone would have a voice.

Well, we saw how that turned out.

We remember the predictions about how the internet would make meeting people easier. All that dreary old meeting a potential partner face-to-face would be very old hat. Well, ask any young person about the misery of internet dating and you'll see how that worked out.

Older people remember wars, so we are sceptical about the next one - and there always is a next one - when the claims are made about how easy victory will be.

We know stuff. We have experience. We are, by and large, older than wiser. Very by and large.

Older people realise that economic and social problems are complex, and that the solutions will also be complex. They will involve muddy compromise and fudge.

I suppose none of this is to actually say that the voting age shouldn't be lowered. It is to say, rather, that the cult of youth is not to be embraced.

Teenagers have a right to a view - but I usually don't put too much weight on it. I listen much more readily to the words from old, wise heads.

The British prime minister justified his embrace of the young.

"They're old enough to go out to work, they're old enough to pay taxes," Keir Starmer said, "and I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the government should go."

His motivation may have been noble, but I suspect something a bit lowlier: there's votes in it. The young are more radical - everyone knows that.

Except they're not.

A study done at Oxford University concluded about Europe: "Support for the far right has strongly increased among younger voters. While the increase in voting for the far right between 2019 and 2024 is similar for men and women, young men have seen a much stronger increase in considering voting for the far right. This pattern is striking and indicates that young men have indeed developed a higher affinity for the far right that has not yet translated into vote choice."

An article from the Lowy Institute pointed out that the trend was also seen in the United States, Canada, "and even in Tunisia, Taiwan and South Korea".

So my advice is: be careful what you wish for, if you think letting the pimply young vote is the answer.

If we're going to change the voting age, up may be the way to go. Wisdom hints at beginning at 50, so that may be a good benchmark.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Should we lower the voting age? What do you think of the cult of youth? Send your thoughts to echidna@theechidna.com.au

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THEY SAID IT: "When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just seven years," - Mark Twain.

YOU SAID IT: John Hanscombe opined about the weekend protests over Israeli behaviour in Gaza. He wondered if "our political leaders have grasped the depth of feeling about the conduct of the war in Gaza?"

Vince said: "What about the hostages Hamas starved, tortured, and killed? No protests for them."

Emile said of the protest on the Sydney Harbour Bridge: "As I looked in awe at the hordes of people assembled for this noble purpose, to give peace a chance; I was struck powerfully by the notion that I was looking at a horde of about the same number of people murdered so vengefully by Netanyahu and his ilk."

Larry said: "Sunday's march over the Harbour Bridge was the most disgraceful event I have ever seen. All they have managed to do is escalate the war in Gaza, emboldened Hamas to keep the war going. A UN-backed force needs to enter and sort Hamas out once and for all."

Rea said: "I am 76 and my ankles would not have stood up to the walk; otherwise, I would have been there. Shame on Minns and the LNP."