Not to mention, our society works on, and would totally fail without (including yours) police with guns, and jails. Authority with power to incarcerate is the basis of all civilization. Don't forget that!

But that is authority that we voluntarily subject ourselves to. Autonomy we choose to forfeit in a social contract. The authorities that arm the police have been granted that power by the people. I think forgetting the foundation upon which that power rests is far more dangerous to society than forgetting the role it plays.

And that has no parallel to the parent-child relationship. Our children have not chosen us as their rulers, and they cannot overthrow us.

What's more, police and jails exist primarily to maintain a functioning society as a whole, and does not always have the best interest of the detainee at hand, although it is sometimes touted as that. As parents, we are always obliged to consider the outcomes for the subjects of our authority.

@DavidHedlund I agree 100% that parents > social authority. you are treading into Libertarian theology now, and you'll find if you keep on in that domain you will find youself in the bible

@DavidHedlund speaking of, where do you stand on the bible and Jesus Christ?

@AdamHeeg I'm not comparing family values viz a viz societal norms. I was just making the case that, in a democracy, we in a very direct way choose to be bossed over. If we're not happy with the bosses, we can not only vote, but become activists and work for change, and failing that, we can even choose to become politically active.

The same power dynamic isn't at play in a family, but those are the checks and balances that are the crucial difference between a democracy and a dictatorship. And you wouldn't refer to a dictatorship to testify to the merits of authority.

Seeing, then, that children cannot elect new parents, it is our moral imperative, regardless of our values, that we do well by our kids, in a manner that the police doesn't have to do well by us at an individual level.

@AdamHeeg Know of it, but it's not a big part of my life or something I adhere to. Have read some out of curiosity, but never made it through the whole thing.