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Sunday, December 4, 2022

The Invisible Knapsack (Updated)

Three decades ago, Wellesley College professor Peggy McIntosh coined the term "invisible knapsack" to refer to the subtle and not-so-subtle advantages that come with white privilege and male privilege resulting from inequality.  She describes such privilege as being "like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks".  The idea is that while we are generally taught that racism and sexism put some people (i.e. women and people of color) at a disadvantage, we are often taught to remain blissfully unaware of its corollary advantages that accrue to white males.  Hence, the "invisible knapsack" of privilege.

We at Twenty-One Debunked couldn't help but notice just how much this metaphor also relates to America's 21 drinking age and the "over-21 privilege" that results.  Being well over 21 myself, as the webmaster and founder of Twenty-One Debunked I have put together a list of advantages in the invisible knapsack of over-21 privilege that people like myself carry every day.   We have updated this list to include tobacco and cannabis as well now.  As a person over 21, as long as I have a valid ID to prove it:

  1. I can buy alcoholic beverages at any store that sells them, in any quantity I wish.
  2. I can do the same with tobacco and cannabis as well if I desire to do so.  I can even openly smoke both in some public places if I want to.
  3. I can enter pretty much any bar or nightclub of my choosing without fearing that people of my age group cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
  4. If I do not want to associate with people under 21, I may frequent numerous establishments that ban younger people from entering.
  5. I can get a hotel room with relatively little difficulty as long as I can afford it, since hotels are less likely to cast aspersions on me due to my age.
  6. I am never asked to speak for all of the people in my age group, nor do I have to worry about my individual behavior reflecting on my entire age group.
  7. I can legally host a drinking party with my friends, as long as all the guests are over 21.
  8. I can join my co-workers for happy hour after work, and even talk about it at work, without any sort of shame.
  9. When I go out with people under 21, it is generally understood that one (or more) of them will be the designated driver instead of me.
  10. Generally speaking, I can drink alcoholic beverages fairly openly without having to worry about getting arrested, fined, jailed, expelled, fired, having my driver's license revoked, or being publicly humiliated.  Ditto for smoking tobacco and/or cannabis as well.
  11. As long as I am not driving or operating machinery, I can legally get as drunk (or stoned, or both) as I please in many states. 
  12. Even in states where public drunkenness is technically illegal, the cops are unlikely to arrest me unless my behavior is really out of control.  There is no equivalent to "internal possession" laws for my age group.
  13. If I do manage to get in alcohol-related trouble on campus, which is far less likely for me, I will likely face lesser penalties, and I will not have to worry about my parents being notified without my consent.
  14. If I think one of my over-21 peers may have alcohol poisoning, there would be no reason for me to hesitate to call 911 for fear of the law (and vice-versa).
  15. I can have a drink or two (or maybe even three!) before driving without having to worry about being over the legal limit for DUI. 
  16. Even if I drive while over the limit, I can be assured that drunk drivers in my age group will NOT be the highest law enforcement priority.  I can just take the back roads and hope for the best, and know that the law enforcement statistics are largely on my side as long as it's not a major holiday or the end of the month.
  17. If I choose to drive drunk, I can know that I am statistically far more likely to kill someone under 21 than the other way around.
  18. Even if I had several convictions for DUI or drunken violence, I can rest assured that I will still be allowed to buy and consume alcohol as I please.
  19. I enjoy less scrutiny over my own behavior, because I live in a society in which young people are scapegoated for adult problems.
  20. I do not have to worry about being a good role model when it comes to drinking, since people under 21 can be punished (often severely) for emulating me.
  21. To really top it off, I have an easier time getting my hands on semiautomatic assault rifles and dangerous weapons in general, especially handguns.  In fact, in some states, I can even carry concealed weapons in a bar!
  22. Finally, I have a much better chance of being taken seriously on the issue of lowering the drinking age, or any other age limit for that matter, without being knee-jerkedly accused of selfishness or immaturity.
And the list goes on.  As we see, the 21 drinking age is not just about disadvantaging people under 21, but giving unearned advantages to people over 21 as well.  And while some of these advantages are positive rights that should be extended to everyone (or at least all adults over 18), others are not "rights" at all, but wrongs that are an unfortunate byproduct of setting arbitrary age limits and of adultism in general.  Still others could be considered either rights or wrongs depending on the context.  And let's not forget the luxury of being able to blissfully ignore the issue entirely.

So, are the advantages found in this invisible knapsack really worth it?  Many people over 21 would say yes, but upon closer examination these advantages actually come at a hefty price, even for people over 21.  Just think about social host liability laws, other annoying ancillary laws, ubiquitous ID checks, millions of tax dollars wasted on enforcement, loss of social cohesion, karma, and highly dubious legal precedent that can be used to make our supposedly free country even more of a police state via turnkey tyranny.  In fact, the only people over 21 who, on balance, really benefit from the status quo are the ones who least deserve to benefit--those who drive drunk or otherwise behave irresponsibly when it comes to alcohol, as well as those parents who would rather stick their heads in the sand than teach their kids how to drink responsibly.

Do you hear that?  That's (hopefully) the sound of the pro-21 crowd throwing up all of the proverbial Kool-Aid that they drank long ago.

24 comments:

  1. Very much agreed. It's time to treat young adults who are 18-20 years old, who are already adults, as adults when it comes to alcoholic beverages. It would also be wrong treat people who are a little less young than 18 as less deserving of dignity as well.

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  2. Agree. Exactly what I've been thinking about this sort of thing for a long time. To summarise, you effectively have an apartheid state based on age.

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    1. Canada is much a more friendly nation for youth. They can decide their own medical care once they are deemed competent (judged by a doctor), less expensive education, lower drinking age, and better laws that protect against discrimination.

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    2. Very true. America is an apartheid state based on age, and has been since the 1980s to one degree or another. In the 1970s we had a chance to transcend that for good, but then the Boomers sold out and pulled up the proverbial drawbridge, and as they say the rest is history....

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  3. And I look forward to what troll Randy has to say about this.

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    1. Indeed, I DARE him to comment on this post.

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    2. He still hasn't for some reason. Strange.

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    3. I deleted all of the troll's comments on the previous post, and disabled further comments on that post. So far he hasn't come to this post yet. Strange.

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    4. Because there's nothing else he can say that justifies his "stances". You can't just ban people you don't like from public spaces or public accommodation. He's certainly free to associate with whom he wants, but the policies he desires will never happen.

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    5. Just remember that there are more like him and his views are condoned by the government and law enforcement.

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    6. This Randy guy wouldn't enjoy visiting Alberta (besides the cold prairie weather) because age is a protected class in our provincial human rights code. Along with race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. Nearly every form of age discrimination is illegal once you turn 18, and minors still have certain protections. There are exceptions, such as seniors-only housing, and you must still be 21 to rent a car (though this is being challenged). To justify a discriminatory policy for anyone over 18, you have to go through some hoops to justify why that policy is necessary. Otherwise, it is rendered "inoperable" under the law.

      https://albertahumanrights.ab.ca/services/Pages/age.aspx#:~:text=Under%20the%20Alberta%20Human%20Rights,are%20protected%20from%20age%20discrimination.

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    7. You can also sign some contracts under 18 if it is deemed "essential." (e.g., securing housing and other living necessities).

      16-17-year-olds are allowed to leave home and are not automatically considered runaways. You can get your driver's license at 16 and your learner's license (or permit) at 14.

      Youth as young as 12 can get their (Minor's) Gun license to shoot under the supervision of an adult who is also licensed.

      The drinking age is 18.

      Being a teenager here in Alberta is (arguably) awesome. You get much more freedom earlier than in the states or other provinces.

      Freedom is not a bad thing. Neither is independence.

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    8. What's the cost of living in Alberta?

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    9. Alberta is a bit cheaper than other provinces (Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec). Calgary & Edmonton, our two major cities, have North America's most affordable housing markets, though the pandemic has changed things a bit. It's not dirt cheap, but it's way less expensive than Toronto or Vancouver, where housing is not only expensive but can be very competitive to secure. Regarding renting, the average rent for a studio apartment in Calgary is $1,141 a month. Unfortunately, rent has gone up 21 percent in just one year. The average rent for a two-bedroom is $1,350. There are still some places where rent can be $1,000 or fall slightly below.

      As you might have heard, gas and groceries are a bit more expensive in Canada. However, how you accurately compare the cost of living depends on where in the US you're coming from, though.

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    10. Indeed, America should adopt the Alberta model yesterday.

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    11. Very much agreed. The Alberta model is a good model, indeed.

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  4. Actually, I want to add that people over 21 may sometimes be mistaken for being under 21 if they are drinking, and even be mistaken for drinking alcohol when they are drinking something else. They may face interrogation by the police and be asked for ID. This happens because the 21 drinking age leads to a culture in which you are always looking for underage drinkers.

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    1. Yes that is true. One of the many ways that adultism backfires on adults, however that happens to be defined. Much like how patriarchy and misogyny notoriously backfires on men.

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  5. To anyone reading this: Trolling or bigotry of any kind will NOT be tolerated. You have been warned. Do NOT feed these trolls, and do NOT extend any sort of olive branch to them either.

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