The crypto-republican handlers of Reason.com strive for group cohesion by spinning tale after tale of their favored topics — gay marriage, illegal immigrants, illicit drugs, and of course, free range kids. For stories of the former three, Reasonoids call for legalization, which is an anti-libertarian stance. In stories of the latter, parents being arrested for leaving alone their children unattended, Reasonoids deride police action against parents.
In
STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES AND THE STUPIDITY OF THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY I wrote,
Most Americans favor living by liberty over totalitarianism. Most Americans want to live within their own sphere of activity in which the law is content to leave them alone. Most Americans would much rather live this way than live by having government in every aspect of their lives, which we know as totalitarianism.
and
Libertarians pride themselves on what they call the non-aggression principle (the NAP) though some call it the zero aggression principle (the ZAP). To them, the initiation of force against persons or property is illegitimate. Who could disagree?
In
REASONOIDS OF REASON.COM, AMERICA'S CRYPTO-REPUBLICANS, I wrote,
In jurisprudence, which is what we're talking about here, liberty means that realm where the law (politicians) is content to leave you alone. Where politicians make laws, there are duties and rights. Always, there can be no right without a corresponding duty and thus no duty without a corresponding right.
Libertarianism boils down to liberty over duty and right. In short, libertarianism means living by fewer laws and thus fewer rights and duties.
Leading the charge for Reason.com is Reasonoid
Lenore Skenazy, ex-columnist for the New York Daily News, who gained a bit of fame for letting her 9-year old ride the NYC subway alone.
On August 6, Reason.com published a work by Skenazy titled,
Mom Arrested for Letting Kid Play in Lego Store While She Shopped.
A mom, Patricia Juarez, dumped her kid off at a mall store for an hour and 20 minutes, while Juarez indulged herself elsewhere in the mall. Upon mom Juarez' return to fetch her kiddo, the cops slapped cuffs on her. Indoctrinated Reason.com readers flailed over the arrest.
Reason.com readers failed to see the mom violated the NAP. She pushed her kid rearing upon the owners of the store without gaining agreement from the owners first.
The store manager was under zip obligation to supervise another's child without prior agreement. The store manager could have shoved little Juan out the door, telling him, "Little boys can't be in the store without their mommies or daddies. Off you go!"
True enough, the child could have been brought to the information booth at the mall and an announcement could have been made alerting mom Juarez to fetch her child. That would have been a much more sensible stance.
Some Reason.com readers argued the store manager lured children into the store merely by having an open for business sign. Yet, under law, any child lacks capacity as well as authority.
Any child cannot enter into contracts. All jurists would agree that a store's owner isn't making offer to a minor child and no minor child can give acceptance. Thus, never could there be a valid contract.
Reason.com readers failed to see reality. Mom Juarez abandoned her child to his own devices.
On August 14, Reason.com published another work by Skenazy titled,
Another Mom Thrown in Jail for Letting Kids Play at Park. Once again, Reason.com readers commented collective gasps on cue at the abuse of the system.
As to the story, mom Ashley Richardson of Winter Haven, Florida, let her kids wander to a park on their own, crossing over a four-lane boulevard with few crosswalks. Mom Richardson sought to do her chores without the burden of her children tagging along.
Two and half hours passed between the time a cop of Winter Haven first met with the children to rescue one stuck in a swing set chair and when later the same cop discovered the children in a more precarious environment. Who knows how many hours the children were left to their own devices by their mom Richardson?
Mom Ashley Richardson violated the NAP. She imposed duty upon the residents of Winter Haven to incur costs without first gaining agreement with those residents. Without doubt, through action Ashley Richardson reveals herself to be anti-libertarian.
It's one thing to have free-range kids in exurbia or on one's farm. It's another thing to let little kids supervise themselves in an urban park in the 21st century.
Today, Reason.com published yet another Skenazy piece,
Poll: Most Americans Want to Criminalize Pre-Teens Playing Unsupervised. And once again, Reason.com readers chime in with their indoctrination-induced whines.
According to the cited poll, 83% of Americans say there ought be a law that prohibits kids 9 and under from playing at the park unsupervised and 62% feel the same way about 12-year-olds.
From this, Skenazy wildly jumps to the crazed claim that Americans would like to criminalize all pre-teenagers playing outside on their own.
In law, where there is a right, there must be a duty. Freedom, also said, liberty by those who favor the Old French in English, is the realm where politicians are content to leave alone anyone from law.
In law, property means the right of ownership and not what is owned, ever. In law, liability imposes facing right of action in civil matters and right of prosecution in criminal matters.
Municipalities are incorporated entities chartered under law within their respective states. Municipalities own parks. Residents do not parks within their cities.
Under incorporation, those who legislate for municipalities grant rights for residents to enjoy lands in which municipalities have ownership. These same legislatures impose duty upon themselves with respect to the rights granted residents.
Likewise, legislatures grant rights to municipalities and impose duties upon residents.
There is no compelling argument that incorporated entities of any kind, including municipalities ought to impose duty of particular kinds and thus subject those municipalities to liability. Thus, no one can argue rightly that managers of municipalities ought to open their respective municipalities to liabilities.
Libertarians are right to defend individuals from the erosion of freedom, say regarding the rearing of their children anywhere where individuals have property such as houses and cars. However, libertarians have no legs upon which stand with respect to incorporated entities.
Forcing municipalities to watch over unsupervised children is akin to forcing store owners to watch over unsupervised children. Both acts are anti-Libertarian and violate the NAP.
And look what happens when managers of municipalities open their municipalities to liability.
The dopey parents of five children in Brooklyn let their kids swing on swings, likely unsupervised, until the kids managed to break their own legs.
Perhaps, criminalizing temporary abandonment isn't the way to go. Rather than imposing criminal penalties, stiff civil penalties could be imposed, akin to walking one's dog without a leash. Perhaps only habitual violators ought to be considered for criminal action.
Accidents are the leading cause of death for children under age 21. For boys between 1 and 4, accidents account for 35.3% of all deaths, 3.75 times the next cause, congenital malformations. For boys between 5 and 9, accidents account for 36.5% of all deaths, twice the next cause of malignant neoplasms (cancers). For boys between 10 and 14, accidents account for 32.9% of all deaths, 2.3 times the next cause of malignant neoplasms. For boys between 15 and 19, accidents account for 40.7% of all deaths, double the percent of next cause, homicide by assault.
For girls, 1 to 4, accidents are the leading cause of death, 1.89 times more than the next cause of congenital malformations. For girls, 5 to 9, accidents account for 27.4% of all deaths, 1.38 times the next cause of malignant neoplasms. For girls, 10 to 14, accidents account for 25.9% of all deaths, 1.35 times the next cause of malignant neoplasms. For girls, 15 to 19, accidents account for 44.1% of all deaths, 3.97 times the next cause of suicide.
To indoctrinated Reason.com readers, though, children are safe everywhere, all the time. Of course, the master handlers at Reason.com go strive to trigger emotion because they play on an important fact about psychology. The indoctrinates at Reason.com see themselves as the children playing and can't understand why anyone needs supervision since they don't. The master handlers at Reason.com rely on triggering childhood memories of the indoctrinates who conclude they are alive today and thus how bad could it be to leave children unattended in the wild.
And then there is this ...
Teenager arrested in connection with death and rape of 6-year-old
The little girl was frequently allowed to wander and play on her own in the fenced-in community.
Jenise was last seen going to bed the night of Aug. 2, but her parents, James and Denise Wright, did not report her missing until a day later because they had assumed she was off playing.
I have been quite moved by the Jenise Wright story. Her precious face reminds me so much of my daughter when my daughter was at the same age.
