Random though based on that website could one be apart of West Point's wine tasting thing (idk if its a club or what) if they are under 21 with parental consent?
And I respectfully disagree.
Unless you are 21, drinking is illegal.
Not displaying a lot of leadership or character by breaking the law.
The message that I get from your post is that it's OK to do something illegal- as long as it's in private?
All right. I'll bite.
As long as it doesn't harm/adversely affect anybody else, I don't see a problem with it. Private business is private business. Once it affects somebody else it becomes public business. I'm sure we can argue all day about second and third order affects of personal descisions, but at a certain point, you've gotta just say that, pardon my french, **** happens.
Just because something's illegal doesn't make it immoral, and vice-versa. Morality isn't a clear-cut, black and white thing. It's shades of grey. Just because someone knowingly chooses to break a law or a regulation doesn't make them a bad person. I offer an example:
According to regulations, we're supposed to have a bottle of hand sanitizer on our person at all times. I doubt I could find a cadet that actually follows this regulation. Same goes for the ACE card. Does this mean that 95%+ of the Corps is comprised of bad people? I don't think so. Same goes for something like speeding, which, at least in my state, means going any speed above(and sometimes below) the speed limit.
My point is, ignoring a regulation or a law doesn't necessarily impinge upon your character. Sometimes it is, really and truly, not a big deal.
I respectfully disagree with your disagreement. So deciding when to take an illegal risk is going to be useful in the Army? Breaking the law is worth it for a few hours of fun? If you're going to be whatever person you want and "cut loose" until R-Day and not impose any standards or models of behavior on yourself before then, I think one would have trouble adjusting to having such things imposed on them very suddenly. Obviously I'm not even a New Cadet yet so maybe my opinion doesn't matter but I think your viewpoint is skewed.
A parallel discussion is going on in the "Pardon my paranoia" thread and I think buff's point sums it all up:
Ah, the voice of experience cries out...
Troll
I see your point.
I disagree with you, though. Some rules are arbitrary and stupid. I understand the concept that a proper response to finding out something is illegal is not "why", but at the same time, when the only justification for something being illegal is "it's the law" it certainly begs the question.
Oftentimes it seems that whether or not a law gets passed depends upon who writes the biggest check or influences the right people in an organization. Take the drinking law for example. The whole reason that the states adopted the no purchase under 21 law is because the federal government threatened to cut 10% of their funding for highways if they did not adopt a law to that effect. The federal government intentionally found a workaround of the Interstate Commerce Clause, knowing that the states wouldn't tolerate a decline in revenue. Is working around the Constitution a morally correct thing to do? Is creating a subclass of citizens, aged 18 to 21, who are technically full citizens of the United States and are able to vote, but unable to consume alcohol even constitutional under the doctrine of equal protection?
Governments the world over have passed bad laws and done bad things. Is compliance with all laws necessary to be a moral person of sound character, even if you believe the laws to be themselves to be bad?
However, with regard to the OP and his concern over USMA's feelings about actions before entrance into WP, I'd disagree that the summer before R-day is the best time to become an advocate for the changing of the drinking age. ... you may not like it, but you have to either choose to obey it, or, face the consequences for disobeying it. If you think it unfair, write your State Reps. USMA, I imagine, will not look favorably on a "this law is BS, so I said screw it" type of defense.
Excellent common sense advice. there is a time and a place for everything and that includes a time to conform and a time to push back. This is the time to conform. You want to push the limits of the system- wait until you are truly in the system.
The bottom line- the Army is not interested in hiring you as a social activist- they are hiring you to be a future officer in the Army- which is a position in which you FREQUENTLY will be called upon to obey and enforce rules and policies which in your heart of hearts you don't necessarily believe are important or even smart. If you don't have the self control to avoid doing something illegal now- what kind of message does that send to USMA about your ability to implement things that very well may be silly "BS" ?
BTW- I think that the 21 year old drinking age is silly and even offensive (you can go to Afghanistan and get killed but you can't have a beer even in an Enlisted club?!). But until 18 year old voters start voting in huge numbers and make the politicians think that they should pander to you- it isn't going to change. So go get your fellow 18-20 year old citizens to actually vote in Congressional elections, make "The honorable John Q Congressman" believe that he needs your support to win and suddenly it'll start to change. Until then- don't go out drinking with your buddies because it's the law and you are trying to get into a college slot for which 10 others applied- you are pretty easily replaceable if you screw this up this summer with a stunt like underage drinking.