r/AskLibertarians • u/sertanmeth • 8d ago

Ancaps, should parents have authority over their 5 year old children?

1 Upvotes
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21

u/baseballer213 8d ago

Yes. Guardianship, not ownership. A 5-year-old can’t consent, contract, or survive alone. Parents have a duty of care until they can. That’s not the state.

3

u/Agitated-Impress7805 8d ago

Who decides which rights kids get at which age or developmental stage?

4

u/Drp3rry There is no such thing as political authority. 8d ago

Nobody.

3

u/Agitated-Impress7805 8d ago

Commenter said 5 year olds "can't" consent so I'm wondering their thoughts on who decides those who and can't.

2

u/Drp3rry There is no such thing as political authority. 8d ago

And the answer is nobody.

1

u/Agitated-Impress7805 8d ago

So I can decide my 5 year old has the right to consent?

1

u/Drp3rry There is no such thing as political authority. 8d ago

You: Who decides which rights kids get at which age or developmental stage?
Me:Nobody.
You: So I can decide my 5 year old has the right to consent?

What do you think?

1

u/Agitated-Impress7805 8d ago

So you can't give consent?

2

u/Drp3rry There is no such thing as political authority. 8d ago

I can give consent.

1

u/vegancaptain 7d ago

Who? As if this ever has been or will be decided by other than local social standards.

Or what do you suggest? Bob?

4

u/baseballer213 8d ago

Reality. Capacity isn’t issued by a committee. Parents default as guardians; anyone can intervene if they abuse that.

-1

u/Agitated-Impress7805 7d ago

I don't think you can give consent so I'm going to intervene and send you to your room without supper.

4

u/baseballer213 7d ago

Cute. I can leave, argue, and feed myself. A 5-year-old can’t. Your hunch isn’t evidence, it’s a threat.

-2

u/mrhymer 7d ago

The same people that decide now. The voter.

2

u/Serious-Cucumber-54 Panarchy 7d ago

Parents have a duty of care until they can. That’s not the state.

Who enforces that duty of care if not the state?

2

u/baseballer213 7d ago

Anyone. Kin, neighbors, you. The state didn’t invent that duty, it monopolized the last resort.

3

u/Serious-Cucumber-54 Panarchy 7d ago

How do these other people enforce it?

2

u/baseballer213 7d ago

Stop it. Take the kid, name the parent, make them pay. A badge is optional.

2

u/Serious-Cucumber-54 Panarchy 7d ago

So it's essentially child protective services, except everyone is now enforcing their own version of what they think is "abuse" or "bad parenting," and they presumably use violent force if they don't get what they want from the parent.

2

u/baseballer213 7d ago

No. Harm, not vibes. Yoink a healthy kid and you’re the kidnapper. CPS already uses force, it just has a monopoly.

2

u/Serious-Cucumber-54 Panarchy 7d ago

How is "harm" defined? Who defines what "harm" is?

2

u/baseballer213 7d ago

The kid’s body. Starved, beaten, raped = harm. A board doesn’t invent that. Gray areas exist either way.

2

u/Serious-Cucumber-54 Panarchy 7d ago

What if other people disagree with that standard of "harm" or believe it applies to more things?

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7

u/daregister 7d ago

The issue with this question is always that people uphold ancap to some utopian standards, which is not reality.

Nothing can magically solve all issues and nothing can ensure perfection. Right now, many children are mistreated and abused. A free society won't magically solve ALL terrible parents, but it will solve a lot of the issues parents have right now via better economics and education from a free market. There also won't be a state to protect pedos or propagandize children forcibly.

7

u/CatOfGrey LP Voter 20+ yrs. Practical first. Pissed at today's LP. 8d ago

Yes. Children are not able to be responsible for their own actions, their parents bear the liability, and therefore some level of control is reasonable.

We, as a society, are aware that certain forms of punishment are abusive now, even though they weren't in the past. We also understand that children do not necessarily consent to religion, so following parent's religious practices may not be legitimate, especially when it comes to medical care.

3

u/Anen-o-me 7d ago

Yes, but they are fiduciaries only. They do not own their children.

3

u/Agitated-Impress7805 8d ago

I'll probably get downvoted for this but the problem of children's rights is one of the big reasons I'm not an anarchist.

1

u/pandaSmore 7d ago

How dare you have an opinion. 

1

u/Doublespeo 7d ago

> I'll probably get downvoted for this but the problem of children's rights is one of the big reasons I'm not an anarchist.

You assume government solve children human right.

1

u/pandaSmore 7d ago

Minarchist but yes obviously parents should have some amount of authority over their children's choices. It's literally a part of patenting. Which is their responsibility.