6 year old Statist, and 4 year old Libertarian

[Icymudpuppy]

Hello RPFs,

I observed an interesting phenomenom today. I'm usually at work when these things play out, but this time I watched. I didn't interfere.

My two boys were playing with some toys. Each boy had their own pile.

The 6 year old decided he wanted things done a certain way, and told the 4 year old to do it that way.

The 4 year old told him that he liked it his way, and he would continue playing the way he was.

The 6 year old attempted to take the toys away from the 4 year old by shoving him out of the way.

The 4 year old beat the 6 year old soundly about the body and shoulders, then went back to playing.

The 6 year old attempted to get me to intervene on his behalf.

I told him he got into his own mess by being bossy.

The 6 year old tried to take the toys away again.

The next 5 minutes was a humorous example of standing up for one's rights. The 4 year old beat the 6 year old soundly again. The 6 year old whines, pleads for authority, and then tries to steal again, and receives another beating and so on until he was bruised enough to stop trying.

While I would prefer my 4 year old find other methods besides violence of standing up to his brother, I also hope my 6 year old is learning not to be so bossy.

[silverhandorder]

Like a 4 year old can hurt anything. My parents let me and my friends brawl when we were 5, 10 and 15. I doubt anything bad will happen to the 6 year old.

[Jeremy]

Lol, you called your child a statist.

[low preference guy]

great parenting! hope the statist bully learned a lesson!

[fatjohn]

You should be worried that your six year old is not in excellent physical condition...
Or your 4 year old is becoming somekind of uber athlete

[ClayTrainor]

Great story, thanks for sharing!

[pcosmar]

Great story, thanks for sharing!

And a near perfect analogy too.

Out of the mouths of babe's. ;)

[Icymudpuppy]

You should be worried that your six year old is not in excellent physical condition...
Or your 4 year old is becoming somekind of uber athlete

My 6 year old is long and lanky and is a good runner. He came out at 6.75 lbs and at 6 he is 44 lbs and about 40 inches.

My 4 year old is short and stocky. All muscle. He came out at 8.5 lbs, and at 4.75yrs he is 45 lbs and about 36 inches.

The 6 year old is faster and has more stamina able to run a mile in about 9 minutes which I think is awesome for a 6 year old, but the 4 year old is stronger and tougher with better center of gravity and while his punches are strong for his age, they are not too hard hitting, but he knows that the gnads and a few other places are good targets.

[mediahasyou]

if parents told their children to work it out themselves (rather than intervening), possibly later in life those children (now adults) will stop asking the government to help them.

[TRIGRHAPPY]

Like a 4 year old can hurt anything. My parents let me and my friends brawl when we were 5, 10 and 15. I doubt anything bad will happen to the 6 year old.

My parents stepped in when I got shot in the face with a pellet gun and I hit my cousin in the head with an axe. We both lived and have very interesting scars.

[paulitics]

Now this was an entertaining story.

[Andrew-Austin]

if parents told their children to work it out themselves (rather than intervening), possibly later in life those children (now adults) will stop asking the government to help them.

This being premised on the idea that the state is a parental projection, which I think to a limited degree it may be, but not so much so that one should base all their decisions with this in mind trying to form a little libertarian. It sounds very possible to intervene in such a way so as to not encourage over-reliance on a third party, it just takes a little more thoughtfulness than parents usually exert.

[american.swan]

if parents told their children to work it out themselves (rather than intervening), possibly later in life those children (now adults) will stop asking the government to help them.

The above seems appealing, even to me, but I think it's flawed. From my experience, it wouldn't work in all cases.

[tremendoustie]

The above seems appealing, even to me, but I think it's flawed. From my experience, it wouldn't work in all cases.

Yes, it's only applicable in a limited way. Ultimately, children do not have the full rights of adults, and it is your home. You have the right to lay down the law.

Good story though. I think, if I were to nitpick, I would have preferred a more full explanation from you, explaining to your 6 year old that the 4 year old has a right to play with toys the way he wants to. But then, I'm not a parent, so I'm speaking out of ignorance.

[Icymudpuppy]

Good story though. I think, if I were to nitpick, I would have preferred a more full explanation from you, explaining to your 6 year old that the 4 year old has a right to play with toys the way he wants to. But then, I'm not a parent, so I'm speaking out of ignorance.

I did, but it was wordy, and I wanted to go with just the basest details. You'll notice I used no quotes. I did go more in detail than just calling the 6 year old bossy, but it wasn't important to the story.

[tremendoustie]

I did, but it was wordy, and I wanted to go with just the basest details. You'll notice I used no quotes. I did go more in detail than just calling the 6 year old bossy, but it wasn't important to the story.

Awesome :)

[2young2vote]

I've seen this in my own house. My dad is a libertarian who believes in property and my step-mom is a total altruist (but nice). My brother and sister will get something for their birthday, then get in trouble when they don't share their new gift with the other. What happens is when someone has something that the other wants, the one that wants it will instantly go complain to the adults to get it from the one who is using it.

I'm not sure if this will translate into them being statists when they get older, but on the family level when they are young they are.

[BuddyRey]

Like a 4 year old can hurt anything. My parents let me and my friends brawl when we were 5, 10 and 15. I doubt anything bad will happen to the 6 year old.

You'd be surprised. There have been zoological studies that have posited the theory that smaller or weaker animals actually fight much more fiercely than stronger invading specimens when fighting in and for their own turf, territory, or property. Nature seems to have a libertarian bias! :D

[Jean]

When I was young, I was (and still am) the libetarian and my sister was (and still is) the statist! When we attempted to play anything she always had rules......... I always wanted to know why I should follow the rules, who made the rules and why did they make those rules?.......... She never understood me. She always needed the structure of the rules so she knew how to operate. Without rules she was lost. I resisted the rules at all cost. I believe we were born into these personallities. But watching my sister grow up and live her life gave me great understanding of people who have that kind of personallity.

[Kylie]

Sounds familiar. My nephew will come over to play with my son, but when my son doesn't play with him the way he wanted my son to play, the nephew will get physical. My son, who is older and bigger, will take it for a while, but eventually gets sick of it and hits him back.

The nephew then starts crying like a baby and expects me to punish my son for getting physical. I tell him that if you use force on somebody, they have the right to protect themselves, and that includes by hitting you back.

The nephew does not like that answer, and neither does Grandma. But I don't care, because that is the way it is. If you don't want force used against you, then don't use it on another person.

[Brian Defferding]

Hello RPFs,

I observed an interesting phenomenom today. I'm usually at work when these things play out, but this time I watched. I didn't interfere.

My two boys were playing with some toys. Each boy had their own pile.

The 6 year old decided he wanted things done a certain way, and told the 4 year old to do it that way.

The 4 year old told him that he liked it his way, and he would continue playing the way he was.

The 6 year old attempted to take the toys away from the 4 year old by shoving him out of the way.

The 4 year old beat the 6 year old soundly about the body and shoulders, then went back to playing.

The 6 year old attempted to get me to intervene on his behalf.

I told him he got into his own mess by being bossy.

The 6 year old tried to take the toys away again.

The next 5 minutes was a humorous example of standing up for one's rights. The 4 year old beat the 6 year old soundly again. The 6 year old whines, pleads for authority, and then tries to steal again, and receives another beating and so on until he was bruised enough to stop trying.

While I would prefer my 4 year old find other methods besides violence of standing up to his brother, I also hope my 6 year old is learning not to be so bossy.

Nice :cool: Yeah that 6-year-old needs to be humbled, glad he got his just desserts there.

[aGameOfThrones]

Those who make peaceful playtime impossible will make violent playtime inevitable.

[Paulbot99]

In before child services come to take your children away for "abuse".

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

be careful where you broadcast this story or else you will have CPS at your door.

[Original_Intent]

You should be worried that your six year old is not in excellent physical condition...
Or your 4 year old is becoming somekind of uber athlete

Possibly right makes might.

[LibertyEagle]

This thread is nearly 3 years old. Why would someone bump it?

[acptulsa]

Because it's a great story, and because aGameofThrones was in the mood to bastardize a JFK quote?

[qh4dotcom]

This thread is nearly 3 years old. Why would someone bump it?

It's almost 4 years old, not 3.

Anything wrong with bumping old threads?

[Henry Rogue]

Wonder what the dynamic is now that they're nearly 8 and 10.

[osan]

While I would prefer my 4 year old find other methods besides violence of standing up to his brother, I also hope my 6 year old is learning not to be so bossy.

Going by your description, had your older boy not become forceful your younger would not have reacted as he did. Personally, I must confess my admiration for your younger son's will to stand tall not only in words, but to back it up with the willingness to kick his brother's ass when said brother steps across the line of proper human relations into aggression. I sure hope you do nothing to dissuade him from being like this, though as he gets older you may have to explain to him that while he is well within his rights, the dangerously ignorant, cowardly, and corrupt mob which will include classmates (if, heaven forbid you send to schools), teachers, and other fools could bring him to some harm were he to act rightly in this world gone mad.

As for your other son, let your younger keep handing him his ass to be worn as a hat until he hopefully learns the lesson.

I think you witnessed the gamut of proper human relations in a nutshell, cliff notes version and I think you should be very proud of your younger one. Keep an eye on the other one, though. :)