One issue that I feel is most critical to me is authority. Not the authority that I have, or even want, but the authority that is apparently held over me. My parents have felt and still feel that I am their property and that I must do anything and everything that they ask of me. Why do my parents and the parents of others feel as if they own us like they own property? As someone who believes in autonomy for all living beings I feel that this idea or belief should be abolished in favor of a system of agreements and choices, not commands and punishments. Children are not property, we are living breathing beings who are for all intents and purposes able to make our own decisions.
Since me and my family were born and raised in the United States, my parents are firm believers in "child ownership". This is the belief that children are the property of their "legal guardians" until the child becomes the legal age of 18. My parents have exerted their control over me in many ways that would make children literally hate their parents. The first and most likely the biggest reason that I don't agree with this authority is that my mom and step-dad have forced me to move to Canada after having lived in California for all my life before August of 2003. Making me leave behind all my best friends, who were and still are my first family, is something that I can't understand. They use the power that is granted to them by the state to basically make my life a living hell. Parents tend to feel that "since we created them, they have to do whatever we want" and that just isn't right, we are not property, we are complex animals that are curious about life and our own bodies. Another reason that comes to mind is that I"m basically never allowed to do anything I want to do whereas my brother is allowed to do whatever he wants. Maybe its because I"m the oldest, or maybe because I've gotten in a lot of trouble previously in my life.
