I need some help

yes but the point of the petition is that if you are old enough to decide you are prepared and willing to die then you should be old enough to decide what you consume. And people like me, who are unable to join the military due to disabilities, don't get that option.

the reason most people join the military is for the promise of free education anyways, not to drink. i'm 19 and if i really felt like it i don;t think anyone in my family would refuse to let me drink, in fact i know who would probably give me one because drinking alone is no fun, but that is besides the point, at 18 we are truly not ready for half the shit the world is going to throw at us, the 18 mark is like training wheels they are trying to limit the amount of random alcoholics at young ages, they are hoping that by making us wait we will see that we don't need it and when we turn 21 we won't go out and get totally fucked up.

its the double standard that gets me. I am old and mature enough to decide to die serving their purposes but i'm not old or mature enough to decide what I consume.

They say the drinking age is to protect our health but alcohol isn't going to damage our health as much as a bullet or bomb.

more alcohol per person than hand grenades.

i'm not sure what you mean by that

the amount of alcohol is more than the amount of hand grenades so they think you have a better chance of running into alcohol than a grenade.

though it sounds more like a shoddy attempt at a justification, Alcohol is not inherently dangerous, a glass of red wine a day is actually good for the heart, but grenades are meant for the explicit purpose of being dangerous

ahh ok, that does make some sense

it doesn't really in a medical point of view but to the army/government it makes total sense

yes

oh i'm 19 too and literally no one in my family cares if i drink. When i was 17 both of my parents signed the permission slip to allow me to drink while i was in europe. But my real point is i can go through basic training and get sent to a different country and die and everything is fine, it was my decision. But i am not capable of deciding to consume something that won't kill me unless I am irresponsible with it.

thanks for your time anyways