Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 01/10/2006 8:25:43 AM PST by presidio9
The sex industry is big business, and getting bigger. World-wide profits from prostitution exceed $12 billion annually. Of course, the women generally see very little of this money. The sex traders, whether legal "sex entrepreneurs" or illegal pimps, are the biggest beneficiaries.
Many countries have tried different approaches to control or limit its growth, from legalization to regulation, with decidedly mixed results. But with the sex "business" spawning cross-border trafficking in women and children and boosting organized crime across Europe, we can no longer turn a blind eye to this problem.
* * * As prostitution becomes more prevalent, it's also becoming more accepted. During this summer's World Cup, the city of Bremen estimates an influx of 30,000 - 40,000 prostitutes to Germany for the four-week tournament. Taking a lead from the Athens Olympic Games, the authorities in Cologne put up a complex of custom-built cabins outside the city, so men can buy access to women's bodies without tarnishing the host's good reputation.
But where will Germany find those thousands of women? The growing demand for commercial sex in Germany and the rest of the Continent can't be met by women from within the European Union alone. According to a 2003 London Metropolitan University study, 60-90% of prostitutes in the EU are foreigners. Trafficking in women and children is a key element of the sex industry. In its newly released report on forced labor, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are more than 250,000 sex slaves in industrialized countries.
Some "progressive" campaigners have, especially over the past 15 years, argued that the legalization and regulation of prostitution could reduce trafficking and help combat organized crime and money laundering that usually come with it. By making
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Bump for a later read.
Someone, somewhere, might be having fun. This must be stopped.
I'm sure you could find some posturing politicians, and some fund-raising FOTF types. And I'm also sure you could cite radical feminists who agree 100% with you.
You, and no doubt many others confuse your prudery with conservative principles, which have their basis in limiting the power of government.
And I notice that you didn't even try to respond to what William F. Buckley Jr. said...you just reassert that conservatives oppose prostitution and therefore no one is supposed to post any viewpoints that disagree with presidio9's; whose opinions we must accept as defining conservatism.
I thought the following was interesting as an indication of what at least some conservative Republican voters think:
[Eugene Volokh, November 13, 2004 at 11:58am] 0 <
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Prostitution vs. President Bush: Reader Gerald Kanapathy writes:
Along similar lines to your item on Montana voting for medical marijuana but also for Bush, take a look at the Churchill County, Nevada election results:
The county had a vote on whether to continue to allow legalized prostitution, or to ban it. (In Nevada, outside of Vegas and Reno, the decision to regulate is made at the county level.)
It went Bush 72%, Kerry 26%. (First item on the page.) But it went 63% to keep prostitution legal. (Last item on the page.)
He also notes that "This was almost a purely symbolic/moral vote, with little economic value at stake, since there are currently no brothels operating in the county, nor have there been for several years."
Naturally, this doesn't mean that Republicans generally support medical marijuana or legalized prostitution; of course this will vary from region to region. But it does suggest that many Republicans, while not hard-core libertarians, are open to libertarian solutions to various problems. And the same may even be true of those who are culturally conservative in many ways; I doubt that most Montanans are enthusiastic about marijuana generally, or that most residents of Churchill County would want their daughters to become prostitutes. My guess, though, is that they believe that marijuana is not an unalloyed evil, and that, given the cost and relative ineffectiveness of outlawing prostitution, it's better to keep it legal than to outlaw it.
Libertarian-leaning Republicans politicians can keep this vote Republican. Fiscally conservative libertarianish Democrats can peel it away. It's helpful for politicians in both parties to know that.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
ALERT.ALERT!!!
wE HAVE A TROLLL HERE!
You are a troll and soon the Viking Kitties will eat you alive....Bring on the kitties!
Good responses, but check the poster's date of entry and I see a troll!!!
Typical pontificating moralists!
No response to the Las Vegas situation where legalized prostitution does not result in as much crime, underground activity, disease, etc.
Hey ...all you moralists! The day you start seriously arresting each and every guy that pays for sex, and put their face on video on tv, I will start taking your "moral, religious " arguments seriously.
Meanwhile, you just go to church on Sunday in the suburbs and arrest the "bad" women who take money from the suburban guys on Friday nite. what gets me is the hypocrisy.
Isn't 49 out of 50 US States one of the only places in the industrialized world that still bother to prosecute adult prostitution?
Presidio9 is illogical and has no place in a conservative forum.
Also, most of the places in the industrialized world that your refer to have socialized medicine, outlawed capital punishment, and opposed us on the Iraq war. What's your point?
As ususal, your feedback speaks more about the intelligence behind the libertarian mindset than I could ever hope to. Please don't hesitate to share any further pearls of wisdom as they come to mind.
Oh for God's sake, most of the left SUPPORTS legalized prostitution. If it was in the conservative mainstream we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Every time I see you post I get a smile out of the great job you do selling the libertarian philosophy to the undecided members of the GOP who would otherwise be likely to lean the way the media and the church busybodies prefer. Thanks for always being there, Presidio9!
The fact that you think the media and "church busybodies" ever agree on anything is an apt demnstration of how informed you are.
On the contrary, this forum is still concerned with issues of individual liberty as protected by our Constitution, last time I looked. --
--Prohibiting, rather than regulating those issues you mentioned have Constitutional repercussions well worth debate.
If you have an original point to make about legalizing drugs, let's hear it. But it better not be "Alcohol Prohibition failed."
Like; -- reasonable regulations on 'evil' objects & 'sinful' behaviors are Constitutional, but prohibitions are not?
Your point about --snip-- honest libertarians create the enviornment for it by pinging six or seven friends into every WOD thread. Libertarians are big on ganging up.
Specious comment. If anyone, I ping opponents to a thread. More fun that way.
Instead of pinging in opponents, a more useful use of your time might include actually reading the thread. All the points you make have been brought up and addressed.
They were? -- Funny, I missed the all the comments on unconstitutional prohibitions when I read the thread.
Not my problem. Try reading it again.
Pitiful.
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