Would the ages of 18 and 21 carrying this much significance in our current society carry the same in an anarchistic one?

Question

Currently, in the law in pretty much every country, there are age limits on things. I see the point in that, a certain age limit being put helps weed out the people who are likely to make mistakes. That is indeed a good way to look at things in a capitalistic (or pseudo-capitalistic as I like to call it) world. However, the point of anarchy seems to be equality and lack of law, especially the ones who harm the minority to help the majority. I'm not asking about drinking, drugs or the like. I think the answer is that such an age limit being put on these kinds of small things are unsensible and more so about culture rather than rational. However, there is the problem of liberty. Is a child free from his parents the moment he is born? Do they have a say in what he does? What if the parents are abusing the child? What if the parents are forcing their ideas on their child which goes against the liberty of mind? What do you guys have to say about this and do you think I'm talking about a problem that wouldn't exist or that there needs to be something done for these kinds of potential problems?

Comments

This obsession with children (whether to protect or empower) was not part of any objections to anarchist or other radical (anti-)political theories/projects until about 100 years ago, when child labor laws started to become a normal function of the state. The removal of kids from the labor force and into compulsory schooling necessitated a revision of how children were understood. Suddenly they became objects worthy of protection and concern as future workers, and their indoctrination with the ideology of civic responsibility became the strategy. At least in the US, this was part of the Progressive Era, where government intervention into the economic and social life of its citizens became ascendant. Along with the ideology of civic (economic and political) responsibility, the protection of children from sexual exploitation became necessary. The upshot of all this is the plaintive refrain of Liberals everywhere, "What about the children?" Supporters and enforcers of statist ideology will always find/create some excuse for why they need to grab and/or retain social and political power. National Security and the protection of children are two of the most insidious; for anarchists, both are (or at least should be) equally absurd.