Everything Voluntary – from Politics to Parenting
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Everything Voluntary From Politics to Parenting Edited by Skyler J. Collins Foreword by Chris R. Brown, PhD Everything Voluntary From Politics to Parenting Editor Skyler J. Collins Foreword Chris R. Brown, PhD Contributors Alice Miller Karl H. Meyer Carl Watner Leonard E. Read Daniel Quinn Mark & Jo Ann Skousen David J. Theroux Marshall B. Rosenberg Donald J. Boudreaux Missy Willis Earl Stevens Murray N. Rothbard Hans-Hermann Hoppe Nicholas Hooton Henry Hazlitt Pam Laricchia James Kimmell Richard Ebeling James Luther Adams Robin Grille Jan Hunt Sandra Dodd Jason Hunt Vahram G. Diehl John D. Fargo Wendy McElroy John Holt www.everything-voluntary.com Salt Lake City, Utah Published 2012 by Skyler J. Collins Visit: www.skylerjcollins.com Copyrights held by chapter authors. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. Original content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License “V for Voluntary” symbol created by Niels van der Linden, 2007. Visit: www.vforvoluntary.com ISBN–13: 978-1477419892 ISBN–10: 1477419896 BISAC: Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy To humankind and our posterity. Everything Voluntary – From Politics to Parenting Table of Contents Foreword by Chris R. Brown, PhD ...........................................................................xi Preface .................................................................................................................... xiii Introduction ............................................................................................................. 17 Section One – Politics 1 – Persuasion versus Force ..................................................................... 25 by Mark & Jo Ann Skousen 2 – Coercivists and Voluntarists .............................................................. 35 by Donald J. Boudreaux 3 – Fundamentals of Voluntaryism ......................................................... 39 by Carl Watner 4 – The Anatomy of the State .................................................................. 44 by Murray N. Rothbard 5 – Thoughts on Nonviolence ...................................................................67 by Karl H. Meyer 6 – Charity in the Land of Individualism ................................................ 70 by John D. Fargo Voluntaryist Resources .............................................................................74 Section Two – Religion 7 – The Origin of Religious Tolerance ...................................................... 81 by Wendy McElroy 8 – The Historical Origins of Voluntaryism ............................................ 87 by James Luther Adams 9 – For Conscience‟s Sake ........................................................................ 90 by Carl Watner 10 – Secular Theocracy ...........................................................................103 by David J. Theroux Section Three – Economy 11 – I, Pencil............................................................................................. 115 by Leonard E. Reed 12 – What is the Free Market? ................................................................ 122 by Murray N. Rothbard 13 – Planning vs. the Free Market .......................................................... 128 by Henry Hazlitt 14 – Historical Capitalism vs. the Free Market ...................................... 139 by Richard Ebeling 15 – Why Socialism Must Fail................................................................. 144 by Hans-Hermann Hoppe 16 – Agorist Living .................................................................................. 150 by Nicholas Hooton Free Market Resources ........................................................................... 156 viii Table of Contents Section Four – Education 17 – The Trouble with Traditional Schooling ........................................ 163 by Vahram G. Diehl 18 – Schooling: The Hidden Agenda...................................................... 167 by Daniel Quinn 19 – The Right to Control One‟s Learning ............................................. 179 by John Holt 20 – What is Unschooling? .................................................................... 185 by Earl Stevens 21 – Whose Goal is it, Anyway? ............................................................... 191 by Pam Laricchia 22 – Unexpected Benefits of Unschooling ............................................. 199 by Sandra Dodd 23 – Grown Without Schooling ............................................................. 208 by Jason Hunt Unschooling Resources .......................................................................... 212 Section Five – Parenting 24 – Natural Born Bullies ....................................................................... 219 by Robin Grille 25 – Childhood: The Unexplored Source of Knowledge ....................... 225 by Alice Miller 26 – Why Do We Hurt Our Children? ................................................... 237 by James Kimmell 27 – On Seeing Children as “Cute” ......................................................... 252 by John Holt 28 – 10 Ways We Misunderstand Children ........................................... 259 by Jan Hunt 29 – Raising Children Compassionately ................................................ 262 by Marshall B. Rosenberg 30 – Born to Explore .............................................................................. 272 by Missy Willis Parenting Resources ............................................................................... 276 Afterword ............................................................................................................... 281 Topical Guide ........................................................................................................ 284 About the Editor .................................................................................................... 285 ix Foreword Foreword Voluntaryism is a simple concept and one many people agree with su- perficially. Ask most people if they believe in forcing an individual to act according to another‟s whim and they are likely to say “No.” “Live and let live,” or “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” – the Gol- den Rule – are common aphorisms that communicate voluntaryism. So, if most individuals agree with the Golden Rule, why aren‟t we all volun- taryists? This book will show you why. Voluntaryists take the Golden Rule very seriously and apply it to everyone, regardless of status or role, whether teacher, parent, ecclesiastical, professional, or governmental leader. Thus, confusion arises not primarily from misunderstanding the principles sup- porting voluntaryism – private property and the non-aggression axiom – but in how to apply those principles to the wide and complicated variety of situations found in everyday experience. In this volume, Skyler unravels that complexity by his inclusion of key articles that apply voluntaryism to Politics, Religion, Economy, Education, and Family. These are foundational areas that not only affect everyone, but are also extensively influenced by the state, with its monopoly on the use of force. This work represents both introduction and depth to the philosophy of voluntaryism. xi Everything Voluntary – From Politics to Parenting I have observed Skyler‟s intellectual engagement with topics dealing with liberty over the last few years. He is constantly absorbing, digesting and synthesizing a wide range of materials to better grasp new ideas and concepts in this domain. I expect this volume is the beginning of what will be many books that Skyler puts forth. - Chris R. Brown, PhD xii Preface Preface If I may take a personal route, this book is the culmination of the last 7 years of my academic life. It‟s been quite the intellectual journey. I‟ve ev- olved from a progressive liberal to a free-market conservative to a laissez faire libertarian, and finally, a voluntaryist (or voluntarist). Of course, it wasn‟t until very recently that my focus turned toward my parenting. I cert- ainly didn‟t approach my children as a voluntaryist. More like a barbarian. The pieces finally fit when I was introduced to Alfie Kohn‟s Uncon- ditional Parenting by a very good friend of mine, a mentor, and author of my foreword, Chris Brown. As my wife and I implemented his philosophy, it became obvious that sending our children to public school would most likely reverse everything we wanted to accomplish. The schools still reward good behavior and punish bad (as if children can “misbehave”). Well- meaning teachers would raise our children in ways that we believe are un- healthy for them as individuals and as human beings. I had read a little about a homeschooling philosophy called “unschool- ing” a year prior, when our son first started preschool. With our recent change in parenting style, and realization that school would hinder our ef- forts, I jumped online to find out more about this unschooling. I was quick- ly “converted” and managed to convince my wife to give it a go. xiii Everything Voluntary – From Politics to Parenting My son would be in Kindergarten right now, but instead is discovering all sorts of amazing things via museums, recreational activities, books, television, the Internet, and video games, i.e., the world. He insists on ask- ing my wife and me a thousand questions about every little thing he‟s dis- covered, every chance he gets. It can be very tiring those days I‟m not in the mood (I work multiple jobs, you see), and he‟s learning to trust me when I tell him that I need some quiet time. He knows it‟ll