Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Mindin’ other people’s business seems to be high-toned
I got all that I can do just to mind my own
Why don’t you mind your own business?
— Hank Williams
Clovis is all atwitter about the possibility of a strip club coming to the county.
The supposed owner, on an anonymous Facebook page, calls it a “gentlemen’s club,” but let’s not use PC language here — the plan is for topless women to dance provocatively in exchange for money.
A lot of people think it’s degrading, disgusting, pathetic — but it’s nobody’s business beyond the owners, employees and patrons, if it becomes reality.
We’ve read all the social media posts about how this place will be a den of iniquity, a moral abyss, a Godless sewer, and we share some of the concerns.
But sorry, folks. We don’t get to vote on what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes or businesses.
County commissioners have already heard requests to find a way to keep this club from opening. We hope they will remember they can’t legislate morality. They need to work on the county roads and the jail overcrowding before they start trying to define sin and ban it.
If we could vote on private enterprise issues, we’re guessing near-unanimous support for a Target, an Olive Garden, an IKEA. And can we get a National Football League franchise?
Reality is individuals must risk their own money to start private businesses. If they make bad decisions, they go broke. Those who encourage them to move to town won’t guarantee a profit.
Welcome to America, where freedom can be expensive.
Eastern New Mexico may well reject the proposed club, and that’s a risk its financial backers will have to take. Each one of us will be free to decide whether we frequent the place, or not, just as we decide whether to watch R rated movies, attend church, eat junk food, play softball, drink alcohol to excess, or read stories to pre-schoolers.
Government doesn’t get to decide what’s “good” and what’s “evil.” That’s our job, individually, and we should take the role seriously, without passing judgment against those who disagree, without violating anyone’s liberty.
Clovis Gentlemen’s Club’s existence and potential for success will be determined by its owners, its employees and its patrons.
Those disgusted by its message should feel free to stay away in droves.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Clovis News Journal’s editorial board, which consists of Publisher Mike Jensen and Editor David Stevens. All other views expressed on this page are those of their authors.