Children’s Rights and Libertarianism
Well, that’s the most awkward e-mail subject I’ve ever typed.
As regards your correspondence with Ed on the subject of child prostitution, I believe the matter can be cleared up a bit if one considers the nature of the parent-child relationship. This is a topic I dove into some years back on the topic of spanking ( http://www.bumblingbees.net/articles/should-libertarians-spank-their-children
— also your fault, Dr. Block!), and I think the same logic applies here.
Parentage, in my view, is a trust. Must as the manager of a trust fund has an obligation to deliver the fund in good condition when the heir is of age to inherit, the parents have the obligation to deliver the object of their trust — namely, the child himself — in good condition once the heir is of age. If we hold that prostitution is inherently harmful to a child, then there is no difficulty in seeing how parents who allow their children to become prostitutes are in grave violation of their stewardship obligations.