My Positionality in Relation to Youth Liberation

I am no longer a kid. I'm young and experience some of the blowback of the oppression of kids, but I'm not in the crosshairs anymore. However, I'm close enough to childhood that I still hold onto the memories of that position. As such, I'm not the ideal person to be speaking on youth liberation, but I have a lot of thoughts and there aren't nearly enough people talking about it.

I was raised in a white Evangelical Christian missionary family. I was part quasi-cult. The authoritarianism inherent to that makes my perspective different than a lot of people, but relatable to many. A lot of my writings will assume that perspective, since that's the only one I have.

My writings on youth liberation are also influenced by other thinkers, such as Andrewism and William Gillis. In particular, I've learned a lot of my facts, inspiration, and approach from Andrewism and borrow parts of Gillis's agency-consequentialism in my analyses of the flow of power in family relationships. I also draw from Daniel Baryon's analysis of hierarchy.

As of the end of 2024, I have also been placed in a parental role over three kids. This is a huge responsibility and a place to practice an adult's role in youth liberation directly. I hope to use what I've learned from them, from others, and from my own experiences to let these kids be empowered and live their lives as they wish to the maximum extent possible.