The strippernomics of an oil spill
June 25, 2010 4:49 PM
 
The oil spill is destroying livelihoods all along the Gulf Coast, and British Petroleum has secured $20 billion in escrow to pay claims of those who have been damaged by the careless mishap. Among those suffering from the oil spill are strippers.
 
The Mimosa Dancing Girls club in New Orleans has filed a compensation claim, and similar claims are likely to follow. Strippers have been financially harmed because tourists are staying away, fishers can no longer afford strip clubs, and other working men and women who enjoy strip clubs are also staying away because of financial hardship caused by the oil spill. It’s an excellent example of how the damage will ripple through every aspect of the Gulf Coast economy. It’s also a great indication of the fact that $20 billion won’t begin to pay the damages caused by BP. If strippers can’t make money, they can’t spend money, and others will suffer on down the line.
 
The Gazette advocated a third-party administrator of the reparation funds in order to avoid fraud and favoritism and to increase the chances that all legitimate claims would be treated fairly.
 
Strippers, unfortunately, are almost seldom treated with dignity and fairness by the establishment. Police agencies, such as the Colorado Springs Police Department and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department, target them for undercover investigations. Nonstripping society generally frowns on the trade. And it appears as though strippers could be treated with less objectivity than those who work in oil rigging, fishing, or conventional tourist trades by the third-party administrator of the reparation funds. Here’s what Kenneth Feinberg, the government-appointed administrator of the escrowed funds, said on “Good Morning America” about stripper compensation.
 
“I’m dubious about that claim. I’m very dubious about that claim,” Feinberg said.
 
If he’s “dubious,” it means he’s doubtful, suspicious and fraught with uncertainty about the need to pay strippers.
 
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Get over it, Mr. Feinberg, and stop being dubious. There’s no reason at all to be suspicious of a claim that says strippers have suffered financial hardship because of the oil spill. Of course, they have. If they have been damaged, they are no less entitled to reparation by the responsible party than anyone else who has been harmed by the spill.
 
Let’s not use these funds, set aside by government demand, to socially engineer. Let’s not use the money to choose winners and losers based on prejudice and the social standings of claimants. Any human who can prove financial hardship in a legal endeavor as a result of the spill should be given fair consideration for a share of the funds. That includes those who dance nude for a living, whether the administrator of funds approves of them or not.
 
— Wayne Laugesen , editorial page editor, for the editorial board. Friend him on Facebook
 
Read more: http://www.gazette.com/opinion/spill-100812-strippers-oil.html#ixzz0ryXHMpOK