Children

Child Abuse

Children's Real Enemy
by John Hood
"If policymakers really want to help all children grow and develop, the most important task is to alleviate the tax burden on families."

For the Children
by Russell Madden
"Anyone truly concerned with promoting the welfare of children now and into the distant future should do everything he can to peel away the multitudinous layers of constraints smothering our nation. If safety and full personal development of our people are the goals, the best course is one that restores justice and freedom.
Let's do it for the children . . . and ourselves."

Legal Child Abuse
by Wendy McElroy
"In Third World countries, parents often cannot provide the basics of life for their children, who must trade their labor for sustenance. The greatest act of benevolence is to recognize their right to contract and to work in the same manner as adult rights are respected. Anything that interferes with the self-sufficiency necessary for their survival is child abuse."

Childbirth

Childbirth -- Anarchist Style
by Carlton Hobbs
"Note: In totalitarian countries without freedom of the press or speech, the following disclaimer applies: None of this is intended as medical advice. Consult your government-licensed physician because he has all the answers and would never perform a cesarean so that he can start his golfing weekend early."

Population Growth: Disaster or Blessing?
by Peter T. Bauer
"Population growth has been widely argued to be a major obstacle to economic progress in underdeveloped countries. The real cause of poverty, however, is people’s conduct—not their numbers."

Children's Rights

Children and Rights
by Murray N. Rothbard
"The right of self-ownership by each man has been established for adults, for natural self-owners who must use their minds to select and pursue their ends. On the other hand, it is clear that a newborn babe is in no natural sense an existing self-owner, but rather a potential self-owner. But this poses a difficult problem: for when, or in what way, does a growing child acquire his natural right to liberty and self-ownership? Gradually, or all at once? At what age? And what criteria do we set forth for this shift or transition?"

Children's Rights
by Dr. Mary Ruwart
The good doctor answers tough questions on children's rights.

Libertarian Theory and Children's Rights: The Fiduciary Model, Rationality, Interests, and The Challenge of Abortion
by Jason Sorens

Locke, Consent and the Rights of Children
by Bryan Caplan

Custodial Obligations

Child Exploitation and the Myth of Moral Management
October 11, 2006
by Jeremy Weiland
"Think about Foley the next time a law is passed that takes away more of our liberty and freedom “for our own good” or to “protect the children”. He demonstrates the truth of politics: virtue is not a matter of coercive laws and enlightened governance. We must place our faith and trust in ourselves, cooperatively building the solutions we seek rather than hoping they will be forced upon us."

The Law of Omissions and Neglect of Children
by Williamson M. Evans
Should there be an enforced legal duty of parents to support their minor children?

Libertarianism, positive obligations and property abandonment: children's rights
by Walter Block

Pregnancy, Abortion and Child Support
by John deLaubenfels
"If there is going to be some legally enforceable implicit contract in the absence of an explicit one, it must not put one partner's "rights" completely ahead of the other."

Custodial Rights

How to Produce Human Beings
by P. Dean Russell
"Personally, I’m not in favor of our government’s rewarding or penalizing the producers of any product, most especially the producers of human beings. That’s a bit too close to “playing God” for my taste. Perhaps we collectively (through our government) would be well advised neither to reward nor to penalize anyone for having or not having babies. Perhaps that decision should be left with the individuals who are directly concerned, and with no one else."

In the Best Interest of the Children...
July 1, 2003
by Wendy McElroy
"In short, father's rights advocates want joint custody to be the default position at separation. PC feminists want sole custody for the primary caregiver. Both situations would be rebuttable; that is, they could be revised by a court with cause."

Introducing Children to Liberty: A Golden Opportunity for a Free Nation's Survival
by Danielle M. Woodrich
Advocates raising children according to A. S. Neill's principles to create "an opportunity for a culture based on liberty to survive and prosper."

Stork Markets: An Analysis of "Baby-selling"
by Lawrence A. Alexander and Lyla H. O'Driscoll

Who Controls the Children?
by Carl Watner
Under United States law, the government, not the parents, legally owns all children.

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This page was last updated on July 6, 2007.