assuming for the sake of argument that children can consent
Children, by definition, can't (legally) consent, making this statement self-contradictory. However, we define "child" somewhat arbitrarily as "persons under the age of 18", which has nothing to do with ones ability to give actual (informed) consent, which is naturally going to come at different times for different people on different subjects, as they gain experience. And as an aside, society currently abjectly fails to prepare even 18 year olds to give informed consent on a wide variety of subjects, let alone those who are even younger.
The rest of your argument is sound (utopianism in any form is a deeply flawed philosophy), but that one statement bugged me.
And I meant sort of what it sounds like you're talking about; some people under eighteen are mature enough to consent to various things others might not be. But, considering people aren't perfect, acting like everyone is is a recipe for abuse. That's all I meant; in a perfect society, with perfect people, you wouldn't need age of consent because everyone would just respect consent, and be able to read if someone is capable of giving it. But, considering that's not the case, that's why this is an absolute disaster of a scenario.
Children, by definition, can't (legally) consent, making this statement self-contradictory. However, we define "child" somewhat arbitrarily as "persons under the age of 18", which has nothing to do with ones ability to give actual (informed) consent, which is naturally going to come at different times for different people on different subjects, as they gain experience. And as an aside, society currently abjectly fails to prepare even 18 year olds to give informed consent on a wide variety of subjects, let alone those who are even younger.
The rest of your argument is sound (utopianism in any form is a deeply flawed philosophy), but that one statement bugged me.
I completely agree with you, actually.
And I meant sort of what it sounds like you're talking about; some people under eighteen are mature enough to consent to various things others might not be. But, considering people aren't perfect, acting like everyone is is a recipe for abuse. That's all I meant; in a perfect society, with perfect people, you wouldn't need age of consent because everyone would just respect consent, and be able to read if someone is capable of giving it. But, considering that's not the case, that's why this is an absolute disaster of a scenario.