Popping Pimples or Voting, What to do first?



Frankly, this is bizarre. One would expect that a youngster would be required to have a high school education before making any decision concerning the political future of a nation.

Hamburg's citizens can now vote from the age of 16, with their first chance to make a political mark due in nine months - a state referendum on whether to buy back the electricity network from a private company.

The northern city-state follows Bremen and Brandenburg as the third German state to introduce voting rights for 16- and 17-year-olds for district and state matters.

Schools will inform the teenagers about their rights and duties, Die Welt newspaper said on Thursday.

Voting at 16 would seem to be a precursor to drinking alcohol and signing contracts at that age. A bad idea all around, I contend. And, if one looks throughout history, the Germans have made monumental mistakes. Think about it, Adolph Hitler was elected by the German people.

I've experienced the challenge of trying to get a 16-year-old to brush his teeth and make his bed. Everyday, over and over. One has to be a blithering idiot to think that 16-year-old pimple-faced youths can add anything other than comments to the political dialogue of a nation.

Looking at the situation from a demographic perspective, Germany has a game-changing concern with immigrants. Deutschland is flooded with Middle Eastern and North African folks. Quite possibly there are some moves afoot to keep the German society German. The idea will likely work in the short run but not forever. Unless Germany gets control of its borders, which won't happen, Germany will die and the German language will sit next to Latin, waiting for a religion to adopt it.