No license, no fun

June 21, 11:36 AMLibertarian ExaminerTrevor Bothwell

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Police raided an Ohio bar last Friday night and arrested four nude dancers because the club is not licensed as a "sexually oriented" business.

Thank goodness we can rely on the state to put an end to peaceful behaviors that take place in private establishments.

But that's not all. If you click on the link you'll notice that a topless 14-year-old was among those arrested. According to the story, "The bar's owner and manager have been charged with illegal use of a minor in a nudity performance and with child endangering."

Because there was a minor involved, there's a good chance most people will not only disregard the fact that the state has no moral right to prevent consenting adults from engaging in voluntary association, but that they'll also endorse the raid altogether. However, while it's taboo to suggest that parents actually be responsible for their children or that individuals bear responsibility for their own behavior, the only point of concern should be whether the 14-year-old was coerced or acting on free will.

This is one of those issues that usually gets libertarians accused of being child molesters, but if the girl freely chose to remove her top in front of bar patrons, I'd say that's her deal. If, on the other hand, she was forced to dance against her will, that's another story entirely and the aggressors should be prosecuted -- though I'd guess that the girl's father would have his own sense of justice in mind and have little need for the state anyhow.

But let's proceed under the assumption that the girl knew what she was doing and chose to nude it up, even if only for the purpose of carrying this philosophical discussion a bit further. If a 14-year-old girl is choosing to associate sexually with grown adults, it's pretty likely she's got some issues. Certainly someone in her past could have caused her physical or emotional harm that manifested itself in this type of destructive behavior. Maybe she grew up without the benefit of responsible parents. Who knows? The point is that in this particular instance, the only thing that matters is whether she was the victim of tangible harm at the moment police raided the bar.

By the way, I'm not arguing in defense of the character of the onlookers in the bar if they actually knew the girl was only 14 -- she wouldn't be the first kid to have used a fake I.D. to gain access to a club -- I'm arguing that the girl was probably in no more harm dancing topless in front of arguably seedy drunks than she is right now while in the custody of the state.

More to the point, the state's efforts to collectivize all of us is a direct reflection of its abhorrence of individuality. If it were to admit that there are some 14-year-olds who are more mature than a lot of 30-somethings, it would immediately invalidate its claim to an entire class of human beings.

Police lieutenant Rick Edwards has said that officers on the scene never even witnessed the 14-year-old interacting with customers, an admission that indicates there was probably no harm whatsoever brought to the girl. Of course, like everyone else I can only go by the information present in the brief news account, but this looks like yet another case of the state prosecuting nonviolent individuals merely for the potential to do harm. That is, the government likely has once again initiated violence against people who themselves have done no such thing.