May

25

Make Everything Voluntary

By Norman Horn

God created a remarkable world, a world where if you follow good ethics and work hard then the results are win-win for everyone. Whereas aggression always involves pillaging one person for the sake of another, voluntary interaction benefits all parties involved.

Skyler Collins has just released an edited volume of essays on “voluntaryism,” which is really just another way of saying that liberty ought to be the default in everything. The book is called Everything Voluntary, and it is available in full online for absolutely FREE. If you want a physical copy, you can get that too for $12 via Amazon’s CreateSpace.

I was blessed with the opportunity to preview the draft copy, and this is my endorsement of the book:

"Skyler Collins has assembled a great panoply of voluntaryist literature for the curious reader. From the basics of ethics to the details of parenting, these collected essays have the potential to change your entire perspective on life itself — for the better!"

I hope you’ll check it out and see if it challenges you in some small way, or educates you in the philosophy of liberty a little more.

Norman Horn

Norman is the founder and editor of LibertarianChristians.com. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from the Austin Graduate School of Theology.

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Tags: Book Reviews, culture, libertarianism, recommended books, statism, voluntaryism

Categories : Book Reviews

http://twitter.com/Scripturalist Scripturalist

Does this book suggest that parents should not punish disobedient children?
Aradruin

Since the ebook is free, you could (possibly) read the essay[s] on parenting…..?
http://twitter.com/Scripturalist Scripturalist

Ha, thanks.
Aradruin

I am curious scripuralist, as to your biblical-case for “punishing” children. And I do mean that in a technical sense. One of my law school professors argued that parents are not to “punish” their chidlren but “discipline” them. He argued that the role of criminal law is to “punish” criminals, not “discipline” them, while a parent is to “dscipline” children, not punish them. Punishment is just retribution for sin. Discripline is a sometimes painful teaching mechanism for sin/disobedience/lower-than-the-mark behavior by children with the goal of a parent being to help guide and teach the child in the right direction.
http://libertarianchristians.com Norman Horn

Like Aradruin, I have some reservations about the use of “punishment” as opposed to discipline. Since I am not a parent, however, I am not exactly qualified to tell anyone what to do there (FYI, Aradruin is, so he is above my paygrade).

But here is what I would recommend: Read the essays and just see what beneficial ideas you can take away. I don’t want to say I’m 100% convinced, but I like what I’m reading.
http://www.facebook.com/skylerjcollins Skyler J. Collins

No, children should not be punished. They should be mentored. I have found that my children, all children, never need punishment. Punishment is failed parenting, or the parent trying to excuse his own failure (or his parents’ failure), and blame it on the child, in my opinion. Don’t stop with the essays, check out the resources, too:
http://www.everything-voluntary.com/2012/04/everything-voluntary-parenting.html

As for what the Bible teaches on children and punishment, I recommend this:
http://www.everything-voluntary.com/2012/05/bible-rod-and-spanking-children.html
http://www.facebook.com/skylerjcollins Skyler J. Collins

I recommend this: http://www.everything-voluntary.com/2012/05/bible-rod-and-spanking-children.html

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