France vs UK

Legal drinking age in Britain: 18
Legal drinking age in France: 16

Amount of beer cans and empty bottles of Lidl vodka on the pavement in the morning in Britain: uncountable.

Amount of beer cans and empty bottles of Super U vodka on the pavement at any time in the day or night: Next to nothing. I've seen just 2 beer cans, in a city, in 17 days of being here.

So we have a legal drinking age of 18, the same age you can have a say in how you're country is run, and yet we still have more street drinking and alcohol abuse than a country with a drinking age of 16? Makes sense.

Legal smoking age in Britain: 18
Legal smoking age in France: 18

So both have a legal smoking age of 18, the same age as when you're considered a fully accountable adult in a court of law. In France, you can smoke in public places, and despite also having a legal smoking age of 18, a much greater number of people smoke. And yet the streets aren't covered in cigarette ends and packets.

We might give France shit for frogs legs and running away before Dunkirk, but I'd rather be able to walk through town without dodging beer cans, fag butts, and the odd pool of vomit. The UK considers itself to be 'developed', but taking having enough pride in one's home to keep it in a decent state as a measure of 'development', as far as I can see, France is by far superior. Surely a 'developed' country doesn't have nearly as much alcohol abuse as the UK, and doesn't have residents with general and near-complete disregard for their own streets and towns. I know which nation I'd say respects and takes some responsibility for the state of its own country.

Surely the legal smoking and drinking ages in Britain are set at 18 because it's only at that age we're sure to be mature enough to deal with them? You can blame it on government, recession, or anything else you can think of, but really, you don't have to look hard to start seeing reasons why Britain is slipping. It's the people that're the problem.