The Posthuman Person

The many age based laws in the United States creates a definition of the person that agrees with the postmodern viewpoint. I also agree with this postmodern view of the person, which allows for cultural differences in what defines a person, although, I still believe that there are certain natural rights that all humans should have free range to exercise. I agree with the premise of the child labor laws. I like how the law leaves exceptions for different situations that could warrant a need for children working but still restricts the children to reasonable working hours and conditions.

However, I disagree with Joshua’s Law. People should be allowed to be judged based on their merit without having to pay for proper training. Firstly, having to pay for proper training defeats the purpose of being judged based on one’s merit. Secondly, if they are going to be making laws changing who can be based on their merit, it should change it to be more inclusive, not exclusive. If I could change Joshua’s Law, it would be to allow people over fifteen to obtain a driver’s license if they have taken a driver’s education course and to allow people above the age of sixteen to obtain a driver’s license without having to take Driver’s Ed. I disagree with the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. In fact, I would argue that the minimum drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. Many communities in the United States do not view drinking at a young age as wrong. They believe they have a right to drink whatever drink they like, especially after the age of eighteen, where people are considered to be adults. Also, as most countries around the world have lower drinking ages than the United States, communities with large immigrant populations will be more accepting of drinking alcohol at a younger age.

Child Labor Laws

Throughout most of history, children have been employed in many industries. Children have worked on farms, apprenticed with craftsmen, or more recently worked in early industrial factories. Until 1938 there was no minimum age of employment in the United States of America (Valenza, 2000). Since then, the definition of a worker has changed to exclude, as well as include, many persons. In the United States, the minimum age to work a job that has been deemed hazardous by certain government standards is eighteen, the age at which a person is considered to be an adult. Children between the age of fourteen and eighteen are allowed to work in places where the conditions are not deemed to be hazardous by regulatory agencies. Also, there are regulations restricting when and for how many hours a person under the age of sixteen can work, such as no working during school hours and working for only eighteen hours a week during the school year. Furthermore, child labor laws include exceptions for children working as paper delivery boys, working in preforming arts, and working for their parents in a family business.

Further exceptions in the agricultural industry allow children as young as ten to work with parental consent on farms not covered by minimum wage laws (Valenza, 2000). Current child labor laws take a post-modern view of the person, much like bell hooks or Martha Nussbaum would. The laws apply cultural universals, restricting younger Americans from working; however, they include exceptions to allow for cultural differences. In rural areas some parents need their child to help provide for the family by helping feed or herd animals or milk cows. In suburban neighborhoods it allows children to provide a much needed service, delivering newspapers, that many adults would be unwilling to participate in. The definition of the person created by child labor laws includes children in varying degrees and under varying conditions. This is similar to how the legal driving age is determined by each state, which allows for children to gain their license earlier and with less restrictions in rural areas where they may need to operate a vehicle to help out on the farm.

Legal Drinking Age

Since nearly the beginning of civilization, people have been fermenting and consuming alcoholic beverages. This drug has been the subject of great debate in many nations as it is widely considered to be an inappropriate drink for children due to its ill effects on the body and mind, and its addictive nature. It was even banned by the eighteenth amendment to the United States Constitution for over twenty years until it was repealed by the twenty-first amendment. The most common drinking age around the world eighteen; however, due to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, the legal age at which a person can consume alcohol in the United States is twenty-one. This law tied federal highway funding to a state’s legal drinking age, denying states money if they have a legal drinking age of below twenty-one (§ 158. National Minimum Drinking Age). While global drinking ages show a postmodern approach   ,  leaving room for variance due to cultural differences between nations, the legal drinking in the United States does not leave room for cultural differences between the different states, something with which Martha Nussbaum would disagree. The United States places a one-size-fits-all regulation on the drinking age and does not allow states to choose what age they think would be best to allow people to start drinking. This differs from how the federal government allows states to choose what they think is an appropriate age to allow people to start driving, allowing room for laws like Joshua's Law.
  A person in the United States is considered an adult at the age of eighteen. Once a person reaches the age of eighteen, they gain the right to vote, can purchase tobacco products, can serve in the military, and can even purchase products from infomercials. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act strays from this definition of an adult person by creating a class of people who are adults but are considered not old enough to drink alcohol. The definition of a person created by The National Minimum Drinking Age Act classifies persons under the age of twenty-one in a lower class of person than people twenty-one and over. As an eighteen year old, I would not be included in the definition of an adult person created by this law.

Joshua's Law

One of the main things kids look forward to as they are growing up is finally obtaining a driver’s license. In most states, reaching the age of sixteen allows you to take the driver’s test and acquire this modern rite of passage. However, in some states, including Georgia, legislatures have passed laws raising the age at which you can take the test to seventeen unless teens take an approved driver’s education course. In Georgia this law is referred to as Joshua’s Law in honor of a young man who died in a car accident because his parents had not taught him properly how to drive (Joshua's Law Explained, 2006).

These types of laws seek to protect younger persons from harming themselves and others by restricting their ability to engage in certain activities until they reach a certain age. This law creates classifications within the legal definition of a person based on age, much like Henry Bracton creates different classifications within his definition of the person. The age distinction within the law creates a legal definition of a person which defines a person under the age of 17 as inferior. The law classifies persons under the age of seventeen as too incompetent to handle driving situations without proper training. This system is loosely meritorious, like the system Mary Wollstonecraft suggests in her time period, giving people the privilege to drive based on how they perform on a test; however, Joshua’s Law strays from this be limiting who can take the test, that is to say who can be judged based on their merit. By limiting who can be judged based on their merit to receive certain privileges, Joshua’s Law creates a definition of the person that includes classes of persons based on age. Joshua’s Law classifies those between sixteen and seventeen years of age as less of a person than those above the age of seventeen, yet still more of a person than those below the age of sixteen. Hence, Joshua’s Law shifts the definition of a person to be more exclusive based on age.