Existing Alternatives Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 I am making my way through Stef’s old podcasts. I think I heard him say something along the lines that the main reason why many of us are libertarians is our early experience with the authority (i.e. parents) and resulting mistrust towards authority. I could be misconstruing something, but if this is true, what is going to happen to our kids? We create this very rational environment for them, where they are very comfortable with authority. Wouldn't that steer them away from libertarianism as the result? How do we ensure that they “stay their parents’ course”? What are your thoughts?
AMR Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 The parents will not be seen as an authority if they treat them with respect that they treat adults with. If parents do not use force, kids will not be comfortable with people who use force. Libertarian offspring will not group their parents in with teachers, politicians, and police. If they thrive in a very rational environment they will reject most of society. I think the kids of libertarians are likely to be more mentally free than their parents. 1
Demosthenes_ Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 The reason we have mistrust towards authority is because of the coercion enacted by it. If I had a child and I am a muslim, my wife is a muslim, and the close to distant community of people around us are also muslim, I would not suspect my child would be a christian; the child would likely be a muslim. It is the same reason why many areas have regional political views in the same country instead of political views of people being scattered throughout. You were brought up a certain way and your peers were brought up a certain way, you will likely believe in that way too. So, if there are libertarians parents, the child would likely be as well. Libertarianism is a political view which is against harm/coercion. If many libertarians today became libertarians because authority was causing them harm, should we expect the children of libertarians will seek out to be harmed or try to harm others? I would suspect no. It is not all authority figures which changed people's societal view towards libertarianism, it was the authority figures which enact pain onto others. Many generations of people have been in the victim of authority, yet they still believed in what they were brought up to believe. Why would it change in this case? Authority is not interchangeable to one who causes pain. A parent is an authority figure, so is warden or a judge. They all have different jobs but are a party of authority, but this does not make them synonymous to each other. There are still a fair amount of people do steer the course of their parents. What about the children who go to the military because their parents did or become a physician because their parents are. Children who read often keep reading because they were encouraged to read just like children who watch a lot of tv is because they were encouraged to. If you want your children to be like you, create a positive example. The reason I believe many of us changed is because the example we learned as a child caused us to realize that it was killing us and others by means of coercion. 1
Existing Alternatives Posted August 6, 2014 Author Posted August 6, 2014 The parents will not be seen as an authority if they treat them with respect that they treat adults with. If parents do not use force, kids will not be comfortable with people who use force. Libertarian offspring will not group their parents in with teachers, politicians, and police. If they thrive in a very rational environment they will reject most of society. I think the kids of libertarians are likely to be more mentally free than their parents. The kids for sure will be more mentally free than their parents. But the parents are still authority. They might not be "bad" authority, but authority nonetheless. Perhaps, in the same way a dentist is an authority as far as teeth are concern. The concern is for all the authority to be perceived as a rational and not expect the proverbial "gun in the room"
Existing Alternatives Posted August 7, 2014 Author Posted August 7, 2014 The reason we have mistrust towards authority is because of the coercion enacted by it. If I had a child and I am a muslim, my wife is a muslim, and the close to distant community of people around us are also muslim, I would not suspect my child would be a christian; the child would likely be a muslim. It is the same reason why many areas have regional political views in the same country instead of political views of people being scattered throughout. You were brought up a certain way and your peers were brought up a certain way, you will likely believe in that way too. So, if there are libertarians parents, the child would likely be as well. Libertarianism is a political view which is against harm/coercion. If many libertarians today became libertarians because authority was causing them harm, should we expect the children of libertarians will seek out to be harmed or try to harm others? I would suspect no. It is not all authority figures which changed people's societal view towards libertarianism, it was the authority figures which enact pain onto others. Many generations of people have been in the victim of authority, yet they still believed in what they were brought up to believe. Why would it change in this case? Authority is not interchangeable to one who causes pain. A parent is an authority figure, so is warden or a judge. They all have different jobs but are a party of authority, but this does not make them synonymous to each other. There are still a fair amount of people do steer the course of their parents. What about the children who go to the military because their parents did or become a physician because their parents are. Children who read often keep reading because they were encouraged to read just like children who watch a lot of tv is because they were encouraged to. If you want your children to be like you, create a positive example. The reason I believe many of us changed is because the example we learned as a child caused us to realize that it was killing us and others by means of coercion. This is excellent! So, there is still hope. Clearly, I try to create as positive example for my child as possible. If I understand your point correctly, not everyone who was aggressed against becomes a libertarian, so many who was not aggressed against may become one.
nathanm Posted August 7, 2014 Posted August 7, 2014 I think the model of the rebelious childoutsider only exists because parents weren't doing it right. But that model is so pervasive that we can't imagine otherwise. If your parents aren't anywhere on the scale of absuive then what is there to rebel against? That model of human behavior can be discarded. If there is child rebellion in a more libertarian future I am sure it will be even more libertarian rather than more statist. "Aww geez dad, DROs…are you serious? That is so 2075!"
J. D. Stembal Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 We want children to support anarchy, not the state, which includes libertarians.
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