They're both wrong. And this is why they both fail. Children need to be supervised, not only because they don't always know what to do, or show good judgement, but because they need to learn how to be adults. The proper supervision of children consists mostly of giving them visible examples of appropriate and healthy ways to live as an adult, which they can understand and copy. But adults are not children. Populations of adults are not children, not even in the abstract, metaphorical sense. Either they were raised well, and do not need parents, or they were not, and parents will not help, because they are not impressionable growing minds that will emulate a good example. Parents reward the good and punish the bad because it is their right and proper role to determine for their children what is good and bad. They care for and nurture their children because it is their right and proper role to determine what is good and bad for their children. They can be relied upon to do these things faithfully because they are biologically programmed to love their children and want the best for them. None of this is true of governments. They must not be allowed to care for you, because they do not love you, and do not know what is good for you better than you do, because you are an adult. They must not be allowed to punish bad behavior or reward good behavior, because they do not know what is bad and good any better than you do, because you are an adult. The purpose of the justice system isn't to morally reform bad actors. It's to keep them from interfering with the rest of us. There are two ways to do this: Physically remove them from society so that a reoffense is impossible, or make them afraid to do it again. When the adults who can behave like adults are left alone, both by the government and by the adults who cannot behave like adults, they accomplish tremendous things. This is why the principles of classical liberalism made the west into the wealthiest, most powerful society is the history of the known universe. It's why everyone wants to come here and participate, or come here and take our stuff. It's why we have to build walls to keep people out, instead of building walls to keep people in. Classical liberalism worked when it was coupled with a vigorous policy of physical removal. The problem with classical liberalism is that it does not contain a philosophical basis for the physical removal it depends on to work. If you are not to some degree libertarian, you cannot create a great society, only a failed state or an authoritarian hellscape. Because societies do not become great unless adults are free to invest in things and control their investments, and free to try stuff, see what works, and imitate the discoveries of others. But if your interpretation of libertarianism does not allow for physical removal, and boundary exclusion, of those who are not demonstrably able to behave themselves in a libertarian society, then you can't have a society that is sufficiently libertarian to be successful and great. The key insight here is that you only have two options: You can throw people in prison. Or you can run your entire society like a prison. This effectively throws everyone in prison. And nothing of consequence was ever invented in a prison. This is the breakfast test for libertarians. If your version of libertarianism does not contain a rationale for prisons, executions, and border walls... If it does not encompass the idea that some people cannot be allowed the freedom within your society that you offer to the patriotic, pro-social, pro-civilization citizenry who are loyal to your libertarian tribe... If it does not, in short, admit to the reality that some people are better than others... ... then your philosophy of libertarianism is self-swallowing, and the society it creates will have the stability of some exotic element created in a cyclotron, with a half-life measured in heartbeats. The future of humanity requires that we maintain or create a libertarian society which only allows those people who are capable of liberty. Occupy Mars.