Should there be only one age of consent, or does it depend

[CCS]

Should an 18 year old be allowed to sign any contract, and it be binding?

Or should the magnitude and length and scope of the contract be taken into effect? Should the state say that if you are 15, you can sign something saying you have to pay back $100, but if you are 18 you can sign a bigger contract, and if you are 21, you can do almost anything you want, except with a civil union contract you need a 2 month wait period?

I'm in favor of the later. I think if a contract has 30 pages of fine print, only a corporation with lawyers should be allowed to sign it, since they are the only ones who could accurately make informed concent. A normal person could not possibly understand all that.

I know some libertarians who think an 18 year old should be allowed to sign themselves into a lifetime of slavery as long as it is all in writing and they were given the opportunity to read it before signing it. I strongly disagree.

 

[cuebald]

Libertarians seem to be in favour of laissez-faire capitalism yet they somehow think that corporations won't form cartels or abuse monopolistic positions etc etc. Is it true that Libertarians want to abolish the FDA, allowing Corps to again sell "patent medicines" containing God-knows-what?

I like the argument "Under libertarianism, if you're good, you can afford to charge whatever you want for your work, so if you oppose Libertarianism, you're a poor worker" - what happens when every big corp in your industry forms a cartel together, both squeezing out competition and artificially reducing wages to a set amount? It also, IMO, goes to show that most Libertarians seem only to care about themselves, and "f*** those who are poor"

Libertarians are clowns. Small government is needed IMO, not no government. - "Core services only".
nb, I also oppose handouts to failing firms, no matter what the industry.

Back on point :laugh: I think an 18 year old should be able to sign up for anything he wants, but that law states that a contract should be clear and easy to understand - if a contract is written in a confusing or contradicting way, it is invalid and needs to be re-written. There are laws in the UK at least preventing you from signing away any of your rights, but this doesn't stop a young guy getting a mortgage he can't afford on a property priced way over what it's worth. Tough sh*t, before spending vast sums, do your research. Being 18 is no excuse.