Posted on 06/19/2012 7:39:28 PM PDT by presidio9
Being A Polygamist
Most of us frown upon the idea of polygamy, but it's considered an acceptable lifestyle in many other places around the world. For instance in Africa, children are considered to be symbolic of wealth, so polygamy is an appealing lifestyle because of how quickly it allows families to grow.
Being Or Using A Prostitute
Prostitution has some terrible connotations in America, but in places like Germany, it's just like any other respectable profession. For instance, if you are unemployed for a year and refuse to take an available job (like being a prostitute), the government reserves the right to slash your unemployment benefits.
Being Sexually Attracted To Children
Pedophiles are the scum of society here, but in Greece, being sexually attracted to children is recognized as an ailment. Earlier this year, The Labor Ministry added pedophilia and kleptomania to the list of state-wide disabilities, and now gives people who "suffer" from such disorders more government assistance than people who have received organ transplants.
Drinking While Pregnant
American women generally avoid alcohol once they learn they're pregnant because they know how dangerous it can be for their babies. But as recently as 2008, 52% of French women admitted to having at least one drink during their pregnancies. Experts who analyzed the study concluded this was because there wasn't enough information about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in France, and that some French women believe that regularly drinking small amounts of alcohol wouldn't affect their babies in any way.
(Excerpt) Read more at buzzfeed.com ...
Using illegal drugs.
They use the example of Portugal, where many drugs aren’t illegal.
So how do you use illegal drugs in a jurisdiction where they are legal?
I believe that America's obsession with don't drink AT ALL when you're pregnant is liability driven.
If your doc says you can have a glass of wine or beer a day, which I believe would be fine, and you overdo it and then later when your baby is born with problems you can say, "Well, my doctor said I could drink."
So to protect themselves doctors veer in the direction of "no alcohol at any time while pregnant" mode to avoid a lawsuit.
Also, in some parts of the world it’s okay to live in grass huts and eat pig $hit.
For instance in Africa, children are considered to be symbolic of wealth, so polygamy is an appealing lifestyle because of how quickly it allows families to grow.
They left out how African Moslems mutilate the genitals of baby girls with “female circumcision.”
All cultures are not of equal value.
“But in Barbados, there are no laws against driving under the influence.”
*Adds Barbados to the list of prospective retirement locations*
Yes, I remember there was a court case that decided this a few years back. Kind of like a “welfare to work” program :)
that's redundant
The normally illicit ones are still illegal, just decriminalized. Most countries can’t actually legalize drugs because they are signatories to international drug control treaties.
I remember bringing up the German prostition/unemployment angle to some liberal family members last year.... they were stunned to learn that this “legal” occupation could be used to hinder unemployment benefits. (I just gave them the standard “unintended consequences” line).
In some countries, people eat dogs.
Of course, no one in America every ate a.....oh, wait.
The guy in my tag line chowed down on Fido.
Nil erit ulterius quod nostris moribus addat
posteritas, eadem facient cupientque minores,
omne in praecipiti vitium stetit.
- Juvenal
To these ways of ours Posterity will have nothing to add; our grandchildren will do the same things and desire the same things that we do. All vice is at its acme.
Actually that'll be lifestyle that is taboo in the other countries but is okay in the US: college-age binge drinking.
IIRC, this embellishment comes from a tabloid story about a woman who refused a job as a cleaning woman for a company that also had a contract with a brothel and then had her unemployment benefits reduced. Seems people now only remember the sensationalist headline ("Woman Refuses To Work In Brothel, Has Benefits Cut")...
“A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing “sexual services’’ at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.”
...
“Under Germany’s welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job – including in the sex industry – or lose her unemployment benefit. Last month German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month to 4.5 million, taking the number out of work to its highest since reunification in 1990.
The government had considered making brothels an exception on moral grounds, but decided that it would be too difficult to distinguish them from bars. As a result, job centres must treat employers looking for a prostitute in the same way as those looking for a dental nurse.”
...
“There is now nothing in the law to stop women from being sent into the sex industry,” said Merchthild Garweg, a lawyer from Hamburg who specialises in such cases. “The new regulations say that working in the sex industry is not immoral any more, and so jobs cannot be turned down without a risk to benefits.”
Does one get shots before or after?.
Slavery is still practices in West Africa and some other cultures.
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