Article by Cal Nogov on Dec. 29, 2016
I’m assuming there’s a couple of autocorrects there so I’ve rewritten the question.
-Hi, I just recently became an anarchist, and I have a question I have big beliefs on but I see literally nobody talking about. Ok, so do you think in an anarchy kids would still have to listen to adults? I’m really confused about this one.-
In a free society kids would listen to adults the same way adults would listen to adults. As equals. There would be no assumed authority simply due to age. All agreements, whether written or verbal, would be voluntary.
If you’re talking about the specific parent/child relationship there is an obligation created there though it’s probably not what you think. The parent is obligated while the child is not.
This is hard for most people to wrap their heads around otherwise we would likely already be living in a free society. Most of western civilization gets its moral code from the authoritarian bible which teaches people that children should be obedient to their parents.
When people decide to have children they have obligated themselves to taking care of that child. The child having no say in the matter of being born and being helpless when it arrives, did not, and could not, obligate itself.
When raising children, because they are completely helpless at first and unable to reason and develop slowly, the focus here is on the parents not using physically or mentally abusive discipline when doing things like changing diapers, feeding, educating, preventing them from running out into traffic, etc. As the child ages, there is a slow transition towards negotiations and agreements.
This doesn’t mean children can just run wild and do whatever they want without regard for their parents or others and expect everything in return. There are rules in a free society, just no rulers. These rules being established through voluntary associations and agreements.
Thanks for the question, -Cal
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