Charita Goshay: Young Americans have already earned their right to vote

Vivek Ramaswamy, a technology millionaire from Columbus who's running for president, has a talent for garnering much more media attention than his long shot campaign probably deserves at this point.

Recently, Mr. Ramaswamy 37, offered a proposal that the voting age should be raised to 25.

Such a change, of course, would directly impact "Generation Z," the 18- to 23-year-olds who turned out in droves last fall not so much to vote for Democrats as against Republican policies.

So, if you can't beat 'em, ban 'em?

It's the political equivalent of Bart Simpson's principal, Seymour Skinner: "Am I so out of touch? No, it is the children who are wrong."

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Under Mr. Ramaswamy's amendment, 18- to 24-year-olds will be allowed to vote only if they complete six months of public service, including the military or as a first responder, or if they pass a civics test identical to the one taken by immigrants to become naturalized citizens.

Ramaswamy said his goal is to create a "revival" of civic responsibility. But in order to argue that adults younger than 25 aren't equipped to vote, you have to ignore the millions of teenagers and 20-somethings who have sacrificed to preserve, protect and defend the same country which enables people such as Mr. Ramaswamy to even run for president.

The reason 18-year-olds can vote is because the argument was successfully made in the 1970s that if a person could fight in Vietnam at 18, they ought, at the very least, be able to vote. Millions of young Americans who haven't served in the military have since benefited because that's how a democratic republic works.

Just as with the 15th and 19th Amendments, the 26th Amendment opened the door, allowing ever more Americans to take part in our Great Experiment.

To justify changing the voting age, you'd also have to pretend that most Americans over 25 have more knowledge about civics than does the average 18-year-old.

We do not.

Even now, we have a standing U.S. senator who couldn't name the three basic branches of government when asked. The University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center annual survey on civic knowledge consistently reports that fewer than half of Americans can name the three branches, and that 25% of us can't name any.

We have millions of adults well over 25 who believe JFK Jr. is still alive. We saw with our own eyes the thousands of "grown folks" who stormed and desecrated the U.S. Capitol in response to a lie that the 2020 election was stolen — football dads and wine moms who would have lynched Mike Pence given half a chance.

Our history has hundreds of examples of young people who have seared this country's conscience. During the 1960s, hundreds of teenagers braved fire hoses, police dogs and jail so their parents could vote; so they all could live like the full-fledged American citizens they already were by benefit of birth.

In doing so, they dared America to live up to its promise.

Hollywood has done us no favors because, in truth, war has always been a young person's burden. This weekend, we remember those who gave all, including:

• 1st Lt. Ashley White Stumpf, 24, of Marlboro Township

• U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Terry C. Wright, 21, of Carrollton

• Marine Sgt. Daniel J. Patron, 26, and Staff Sgt. Richard P. Ramey, 27, of Perry Township

• Staff Sgt. Kevin J. Kessler, 32; Army Sgt. Nicholas Casey, 22; Pvt. Heath Warner, 19; and Spc. Jesse Buryj, 21, of Canton

• Marine Lance Cpl. Stacy Ann Dryden, 22, of Plain Township

• Army Cpl. Zachary Grass, 22, of Sugar Creek Township

• Sgt. Cory Michael Endlich, 23, and 1st Lt. Aaron N. Seesan, 24, of Massillon

• Staff Sgt. Matthew Kuglics, 25, and Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Crabtree, 31, of Green

• Spc. Keith V. Nepsa, 21, of New Philadelphia

• Sgt. Jeremy D. Barnett, 27, of Mineral City

• Staff Sgt. Michael Barkey, 22, of Lawrence Township

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Now, we know that not every 18-year-old possesses the wisdom and maturity necessary to navigate through life, but not everyone is eating Tide Pods.

Older adults have been grousing about young people for millennia. Socrates complained: “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

But it has to start somewhere, and voting is one way by which young Americans can begin to embrace their responsibilities as citizens. In doing so, they can help to make a great country, even better.

Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Vivek Ramaswamy is wrong in calling to raise the voting age