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Does a person belong to him/herself, to her parents, or to the State?

In August, 2009, according to this article in the Guardian (UK),

a court in the Netherlands awards child care bureau joint custody of 13-year-old Laura Dekker after fears for her safety were raised over her plan to sail solo around the world.

Who raised the fears, one wonders, because her parents were perfectly ok with the idea. Indeed,

In its October ruling, the court accepted that her sailing skills were adequate and that the undertaking would not harm her emotional development.

So what was the problem? The court insisted there were concerns about her safety and education.

Which means that concerns about her safety concern the State, not her parents or Laura Dekker herself.

British libertarian Chris Tame appeared on British television (“Wogan”) on March 15th, 1989, to discuss the  tax on cigarettes. Tame was glad the Chancellor had not raised the cigarette tax, a medical doctor was his debating partner. Tame began by calling the non-raise in tax “one in the eye for the health fascists”.  Host Wogan challenged him on using such an inflammatory term: he surely did not mean “fascist“. Tame replied that he did not think this was so farfetched or extreme: one of the basic tenets of fascism is that a person does not belong to himself or herself, but to the State. (See the video: On the 15th march 1989, Chris R. Tame, currently the Campaigns Director at FOREST, appeard on the BBC1 “Wogan” programme to discuss the rights of smokers.)

Fast forward to December 2009, and today I came across this Dec. 20th article, which tells me that Missing Dutch sailor, Laura Dekker, 14, found on Caribbean island. Apparently, the enterprising young lady decided that she and her parents know better than the State, and off she went. The adjective “missing” needs to be put in context.

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