Because we have the right to vote at age 18! And since politicians decide who goes to jail, who fights in wars and where bombs dropped, deciding on the right person to vote for is hugely important. Normally we would take years to formulate opinions on what the right policies are. But the fact is we can vote at 18 when we are still in college with no life experience. So we spend four years voting on things we likely don’t understand. We are expected to know who to vote for, yet don’t really have the life understanding to make good choices. So we get used to making decisions and defending them even if we don’t really understand the subject matter. At least that’s what I think.
The least liked president in american history's election win was made possible by an older demographic. The common mistake that young people make instead is not voting for the wrong person, but rather not voting at all. I suppose they haven't in their life seen the power of collective action, and don't think their vote matters very much. Individually they're totally right, but collectively their vote really has a lot of power.
How is this relevant? The article includes a discussion of "McNamara and Kissinger’s capacity to convey confidence about the rightness of America’s Vietnam policies are major reasons for the tragic deaths of nearly 60,000 Americans and approximately 2 to 3 million Vietnamese."
This took place before the 26th amendment, in 1971.
The new voting rights for 18-20 year olds also does not affect Spitzer's role in DSM-3.
Biederman got his MD in Argentina in 1971, so he too wasn't affected by the change in the US voting age.
