Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, this comes up every once in a while and
everybody starts going, oh, this would be a great idea. Yeah,
let's lower the voting age to sixteen here in our country.
Not so fast, hold on it. And now, youth and
culture expert Alex McFarlane joins us. Now, Alex, welcome in,
Thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, good morning, thanks for having me back.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So talk to me about this. I've seen Congress, you know,
bring this up before. I've seen the individual states and
communities bring this up. And I think the lean on
this is coming from the left more than the right.
And correct me if I'm wrong saying oh, yes, this
would empower young people to get involved and be a
part of it. I am completely opposed to it. I'd
(00:38):
like to see it actually go up to twenty one.
But where are we in this whole thing right now?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Well, you're right that anytime there's talk about lowering the
voting age, it's the left that brings that up. Because
here's the fact, and I say this having worked with
teenagers for thirty five years. Right now, I'm in the
middle of seven youth camps with twelve hundred middle school
(01:04):
and high schoolers. While we love teenagers, we all once
were a teenager. Teenagers simply do not lack They do
not possess the maturity and experience and critical thinking skills
necessary to make responsible votes for leaders. I mean, teenagers
(01:27):
are very much swayed by, you know, the voices of celebrities.
And in this past election where just by the grace
of God, we dodged a bullet. I mean, look, CNN
and Ma's NBC were edited and this is there where
they edited Kamala Harris to try and make her sound coherent. Right,
(01:51):
But Kamala, of course had the endorsements of Eminem and
Taylor Swift and Beyonce. Well, you know that might seal
the deal for a seventeen year old, but for an
adult that's actually rational. I mean, Alanis Morris, Set and
Fat Joe and the Rappers. The fact that they would
(02:15):
endorse Kamala Harrison. In Hollywood, actors and actresses are people
who pretend for a living. If anything, their endorsement raises
red flags in the minds of a rational adult. And
so while I love teens, I mean, my wife and
I and our staff have given our lives to help
teens who really are coming up in a hard context.
(02:38):
That young people, they don't understand our constitutional government. They
don't understand why the borders should not be open. They
don't understand where wealth comes from. So it would be
disastrous to give sixteen year olds the right to vote.
But of course the left knows that, and they wanted
to deconstruct the company.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I mean, they like illegals vote and to bring them in,
we'll get more votes. Didn't actually turn out that way,
thank god. You know, I was thinking about this the
other day, and I've talked to number of psychiatrists and
psychologists and youth counselors like yourself, and you know, the
brain doesn't fully develop until in your mid twenties, and
I think with Democrats it's probably in the mid seventies.
But so to to bring young people on where they're
(03:22):
still developing, you know, cognitive skills and reasoning abilities, and
you know, growing mature with their brain let alone the
rest of their bodies and decision making is dangerous. And
they're probably with the impact of social media, I'm going
to be voting for the wrong reasons. Well, you know,
I mean TikTok tells me to do it, so I
(03:42):
better do it. I mean, it's crazy where we are
with social media.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Now, yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, there was a
book by a sociologists a couple of years ago called
The Death of the grown Up. And you know, twenty
five years ago, maybe it was a conservative ministers and
religious figures like myself that we're very concerned about some
of the cultural trends. But now constitutional scholars, sociologists even
(04:09):
like there's a book called The Teenage Brain by doctor
Francis Jensen, a respected neurosearchon, who said exactly what you said.
You know, the mentally cognitively, we're not fully developed till
our twenties, and even for males, the full the wiring
(04:30):
doesn't get connected till the late twenties. And look, this
is not you know, being agist or you know, trying
to you know, press down the young people or anything
like that. It's just that for the for the good,
the greater good of the country, the preservation of the
constitutional republic, and making just mature decisions. You know, it's
(04:55):
for the some reason that you know, you can't buy
a firearm at sixt you can't purchase a car at
sixteen without your parents' consent. I mean, voting is a
very serious I would argue sacred part of participation in
our republic, and really the moral compass of most sixteen
(05:20):
year olds is, you know, let's be nice. Why shouldn't
we just have you know, free tuition, free healthcare, free
sale fans for all.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Well, like I said, Democrats don't come off of that
their entire lives. So yeah, I think there's something going
on in those brains too, but that's for another discussion.
Alex McFarlane, Youth and culture expert. Thank you, buddy. I
appreciate you wanne in this morning.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Have a great day, all right, you too,
Well, this comes up every once in a while and
everybody starts going, oh, this would be a great idea. Yeah,
let's lower the voting age to sixteen here in our country.
Not so fast, hold on it. And now, youth and
culture expert Alex McFarlane joins us. Now, Alex, welcome in,
Thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, good morning, thanks for having me back.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So talk to me about this. I've seen Congress, you know,
bring this up before. I've seen the individual states and
communities bring this up. And I think the lean on
this is coming from the left more than the right.
And correct me if I'm wrong saying oh, yes, this
would empower young people to get involved and be a
part of it. I am completely opposed to it. I'd
(00:38):
like to see it actually go up to twenty one.
But where are we in this whole thing right now?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Well, you're right that anytime there's talk about lowering the
voting age, it's the left that brings that up. Because
here's the fact, and I say this having worked with
teenagers for thirty five years. Right now, I'm in the
middle of seven youth camps with twelve hundred middle school
(01:04):
and high schoolers. While we love teenagers, we all once
were a teenager. Teenagers simply do not lack They do
not possess the maturity and experience and critical thinking skills
necessary to make responsible votes for leaders. I mean, teenagers
(01:27):
are very much swayed by, you know, the voices of celebrities.
And in this past election where just by the grace
of God, we dodged a bullet. I mean, look, CNN
and Ma's NBC were edited and this is there where
they edited Kamala Harris to try and make her sound coherent. Right,
(01:51):
But Kamala, of course had the endorsements of Eminem and
Taylor Swift and Beyonce. Well, you know that might seal
the deal for a seventeen year old, but for an
adult that's actually rational. I mean, Alanis Morris, Set and
Fat Joe and the Rappers. The fact that they would
(02:15):
endorse Kamala Harrison. In Hollywood, actors and actresses are people
who pretend for a living. If anything, their endorsement raises
red flags in the minds of a rational adult. And
so while I love teens, I mean, my wife and
I and our staff have given our lives to help
teens who really are coming up in a hard context.
(02:38):
That young people, they don't understand our constitutional government. They
don't understand why the borders should not be open. They
don't understand where wealth comes from. So it would be
disastrous to give sixteen year olds the right to vote.
But of course the left knows that, and they wanted
to deconstruct the company.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I mean, they like illegals vote and to bring them in,
we'll get more votes. Didn't actually turn out that way,
thank god. You know, I was thinking about this the
other day, and I've talked to number of psychiatrists and
psychologists and youth counselors like yourself, and you know, the
brain doesn't fully develop until in your mid twenties, and
I think with Democrats it's probably in the mid seventies.
But so to to bring young people on where they're
(03:22):
still developing, you know, cognitive skills and reasoning abilities, and
you know, growing mature with their brain let alone the
rest of their bodies and decision making is dangerous. And
they're probably with the impact of social media, I'm going
to be voting for the wrong reasons. Well, you know,
I mean TikTok tells me to do it, so I
(03:42):
better do it. I mean, it's crazy where we are
with social media.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Now, yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, there was a
book by a sociologists a couple of years ago called
The Death of the grown Up. And you know, twenty
five years ago, maybe it was a conservative ministers and
religious figures like myself that we're very concerned about some
of the cultural trends. But now constitutional scholars, sociologists even
(04:09):
like there's a book called The Teenage Brain by doctor
Francis Jensen, a respected neurosearchon, who said exactly what you said.
You know, the mentally cognitively, we're not fully developed till
our twenties, and even for males, the full the wiring
(04:30):
doesn't get connected till the late twenties. And look, this
is not you know, being agist or you know, trying
to you know, press down the young people or anything
like that. It's just that for the for the good,
the greater good of the country, the preservation of the
constitutional republic, and making just mature decisions. You know, it's
(04:55):
for the some reason that you know, you can't buy
a firearm at sixt you can't purchase a car at
sixteen without your parents' consent. I mean, voting is a
very serious I would argue sacred part of participation in
our republic, and really the moral compass of most sixteen
(05:20):
year olds is, you know, let's be nice. Why shouldn't
we just have you know, free tuition, free healthcare, free
sale fans for all.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Well, like I said, Democrats don't come off of that
their entire lives. So yeah, I think there's something going
on in those brains too, but that's for another discussion.
Alex McFarlane, Youth and culture expert. Thank you, buddy. I
appreciate you wanne in this morning.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Have a great day, all right, you too,
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