Libertarianism Is Not 'No Gun In The Room' -- It's also not the political philosophy of not-imposing-your-will-on-others or not-violently-enforcing-your-preferences-on-others

In the context of /r/Anarcho_Capitalism/[1] however, it's often taken as an initial accepted premise when asking a question about it ie. does this violate NAP? In that case, the question is not whether NAP is a justifiable norm or not, but assuming it's a justifiable norm, how would a particular situation apply.

I think you just highlighted the mistake people make when trying to understand The Ethics of Liberty and/or the NAP. The whole book isn't about justifying the NAP, which Rothbard points out right at the beginning.

The structure is more along the lines of: assuming the NAP, what conclusions can be drawn legally?

This is also why people get confused about Rothbard's arguments on children. He's not justifying objectionable actions (e.g. not feeding your kid), he's just saying that legally (as in legal physical force), you can't be forced to feed someone else.

When understood in context and without strawmanning, Rothbard's chapter on children really isn't that controversial.

ETA "u hate children": (for lukers)

children would't starve. people are overwhelmingly against extreme child abuse. being against forcing the parents to feed the child does not mean they would be allowed to hold a child captive and starve them. assuming "child starvation" is allowed is to misunderstand what he's saying. there's no contradiction if i say children should be extracted from abusive homes while at the same time the parents should not literally be forced to care for them. these are two separate issues.

IIRC he actually said "parents should be allowed to let their child starve." Admittedly this was worded poorly imo. It's technically true that the parents wouldn't HAVE to feed the child, but he never rules out extracting the victim. You don't have to feed a hobo, but you also can't hold him captive in your house and prevent other people from helping him. I think this is an accurate analogy.

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