I think that it's a case-by-case issue. I'm not a mom yet, my boyfriend and I aren't QUITE ready to go off the pills yet and try for babies. That's waiting until after we're married. But I already know more or less how I'm going to raise my children.

First of all, I will spank them, but only as an ultimate punishment, and only when their little, because let's face it. After a certain age, spanking is less of a punishment and more of an insult. I was spanked as a child, but I was spanked past an appropriate age, I feel. And a little hard. She actually broke the paddle on me once. My stepmother and I had issues. I don't think she knew what she was doing, which is understandable because I was the first child she'd ever had to raise.
Second of all, I won't force them to eat anything, but I will force them to try it. I can't tell you how many times I was forced to eat something as I child that I hated, and I came to resent my stepmom for it. My dad would stick up for me, and after a time, they came to that agreement. As long as I was willing to give it a chance, I didn't have to eat it if I didn't like it. But I did have to take at least one bite. And I think that's fair, because I came to discover a lot of new things that way. Nowadays I am still a picky eater, but I'll try anything.
Another unrelated topic, I'm not going to smother my children. When they're little, I'll do everything I can to instill the values I beleive they need to haveto be successful adults, and continue that as they grow. But when they get older, if they start to have different opinions than me, or if they start to think on their own, I'm not going to panic and force them to conform to my opinions. Another case with my stepmom. She's a very conservative Christian woman, and used to drag me kicking and screaming to church every Sunday. When I got older, and started thinking for myself, I started developing a new way of seeing things that went against her philosophy. I was pro-gay rights, pro-gay marriage, anti-bible, I even wanted to become an atheist. She actually punished me for that. And I think that's wrong.
Also, if you're going to punish your child by means other than spankings, BE REASONABLE. I used to have an over active bladder in elementary school, and I couldn't help it. She got so fed up, she actually made me wear the dirty panties on my head with my nose in the corner. To this day, the single most embarrassing thing in my life, and one I haven't ever shared with a single person. Only the anonymity of the internet makes me feel comfortable. Even if you never ever hit them, you can still overdo it.