One of the charges I often see aimed at libertarians (of which voluntaryists are a subset) is that libertarianism is a childish world view, and I'm honestly not sure how to take that. Libertarians generally are of the opinion that people should be free to make their own choices and to face the consequences of those choices, which sounds to me like a textbook definition of responsible adulthood.
According to the critics, though, apparently that's just a phase, and libertarians are just stuck in some state of philosophical-political arrested development. Evidently, most people grow out of that phase, and come around to the mature knowledge that they aren't fit to manage their own affairs and must submit to the judgment of their betters. Many attain the even higher state of adult wisdom of knowing that their fellow man is inferior and base, and sorely in need of forcible guidance, even if they themselves are not. An exalted few of those reach the ultimate pinnacle of maturity and accept their role as overlords, imposing order, responsibility, and morality upon their savage brethren.
Call me crazy, but it seems to me that the fear of self-responsibility, an attitude of superiority and condescension toward one's fellow human beings, and the desire to control others are classic hallmarks of children who still have a lot to learn, not well-adjusted adults.
But hey, what do I know, right? I'm just one of those naive radical libertarians who thinks you and I and everybody else can do a better job living our own lives than any high muckety-muck with a posh office and a pompous job title can do it for us.
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