Prostitution: should it be legal or not?

[Tycho Brahe]

I think it should be illegal to buy sex, like it is in Sweden and Norway.

The prostitutes doesn't do annything wrong. It's their costumers who should be prosecuted

 

[Yeekim]

nah, those people consciously choose their way of life, yeekim knows a lot of them.

Don't make me sound as if I wanted to downplay the role abuse, coercion and real economic hardship all too often play in people becoming prostitutes. I am merely saying that this is not nearly always the case (and that slavery and human trafficking are not inseparable parts of prostitution - no more than they were inseparable parts of growing tobacco/cotton).
And yes, I have personal experience to support that, so your sarcasm is equally uncalled for.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Knives have so many vital uses that the murder rate better be non-existant from banning them in order to seriously consider it. Guns, particularly handguns, are only good for recreation.

And self-defense.

Besides, Video Games are only good for recreation. If banning them would get more people to go to work, should we consider it?

I hate the authoritarian statism on this board...

 

[warpus]

I think it should be illegal to buy sex, like it is in Sweden and Norway.

The prostitutes doesn't do annything wrong. It's their costumers who should be prosecuted

That seems very backwards to me. Illegal to buy sex, but legal to sell it? What's the logic in that?

If you're going to prosecute anyone, prosecute the seller.

 

[Souron]

And self-defense.

Besides, Video Games are only good for recreation. If banning them would get more people to go to work, should we consider it?

I hate the authoritarian statism on this board...

If banning guns decreased murders, then it would surely decrease the need for self defence. Society would be safer without guns in those conditions.

Getting people to be productive is a very different goal from public safety.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Irrelevant. We should ban video games, since they make people be lazy. Just like guns make people kill people.

 

[Flying Pig]

Knives have so many vital uses that the murder rate better be non-existant from banning them in order to seriously consider it. Guns, particularly handguns, are only good for recreation.

If we ignore pest control, hunting and defence of self and property, of course. Where I grew up nearly everyone who didn't mine kept sheep and it was far from uncommon for sheep to be stolen or attacked by dogs and foxes; with the abundance of wild boar in that region every farmer owned at least one firearm and used it regularly.

Irrelevant. We should ban video games, since they make people be lazy. Just like guns make people kill people.

Don't forget cars! There's so many other ways of getting around that there's no justification for keeping those death-traps legal!

 

[Souron]

Irrelevant. We should ban video games, since they make people be lazy. Just like guns make people kill people.

Laziness is a vice, murder is a public danger. An inviroment that thrives on trafficking is a public danger.

Enforcing a moral code is not the role of the government, particularly not a large secular one. Protecting the public is. It is the government's job to fight human trafficking.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Laziness is a vice, murder is a public danger. An inviroment that thrives on trafficking is a public danger.

Enforcing a moral code is not the role of the government, particularly not a large secular one. Protecting the public is. It is the government's job to fight human trafficking.

Obviously they should fight trafficking, I wasn't arguing that.

I find prostitution to be highly immoral, but I don't think banning it in itself will solve the problem, if anything it will make it worse.

Prostitution absolutely causes trafficking, guns kill people, video games make people lazy and neglect their families, violent video games also kill people, exc. We get the picture.

 

[Souron]

If we ignore pest control, hunting and defence of self and property, of course. Where I grew up nearly everyone who didn't mine kept sheep and it was far from uncommon for sheep to be stolen or attacked by dogs and foxes; with the abundance of wild boar in that region every farmer owned at least one firearm and used it regularly.

Yeah, that makes sence. I'm not argueing for banning guns in this thread, just that it could be justified if it effectively reduced murder.

For the record: I agree that those are good reasons to allow guns in a rural enviroment. But those reasons don't make so much sence in urban or even suburban areas. Therefore gun legalisation should be left to local governments, and treating guns as if they were a natural right is not the way to go.

 

[Souron]

Obviously they should fight trafficking, I wasn't arguing that.

I find prostitution to be highly immoral, but I don't think banning it in itself will solve the problem, if anything it will make it worse.

Prostitution absolutely causes trafficking, guns kill people, video games make people lazy and neglect their families, violent video games also kill people, exc. We get the picture.

Perhaps your arguements against video games would better apply to the role government should have in regulating gambling.

If it's not clear, I'm not against prostitution for moral reasons. I have no problem with treating sex like a comodity. But I do have a problem with treating people like a comodity. And I think prostitution breads eactly that. If the demand for prostitution were to rise, then the benefit of running a sex trade increases. The cost doesn't change; the punishments would still be the same. And it is easier to hide.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Perhaps your arguements against video games would better apply to the role government should have in regulating gambling.

My argument was rhetorical anyway.

If it's not clear, I'm not against prostitution for moral reasons. I have no problem with treating sex like a comodity. But I do have a problem with treating people like a comodity. And I think prostitution breads eactly that. If the demand for prostitution were to rise, then the benefit of running a sex trade increases. The cost doesn't change; the punishments would still be the same. And it is easier to hide.

That isn't a good reason to ban it though. I honestly don't see why that would help at all. In fact, it possibly could hurt.

 

[Souron]

That isn't a good reason to ban it though.

I think human trafficking is the important issue here. What's do you think is more important?

I honestly don't see why that would help at all. In fact, it possibly could hurt.

I don't believe that legalize and regulate would work here. Now I know I don't have a strong case, but I haven't heard a good arguement against me either.

 

[GhostWriter16]

I think human trafficking is the important issue here. What's do you think is more important?

I do think banning prostitution and yet allowing porn and random hookup sex is about the most inconsistent thing you can want to do, but that's another matter.

I don't believe that legalize and regulate would work here. Now I know I don't have a strong case, but I haven't heard a good arguement against me either.

Its banned here (Usually) and we still have human trafficking. That's no reason to ban voluntary prostitution.

 

[naterator]

Perhaps your arguements against video games would better apply to the role government should have in regulating gambling.

If it's not clear, I'm not against prostitution for moral reasons. I have no problem with treating sex like a comodity. But I do have a problem with treating people like a comodity. And I think prostitution breads eactly that. If the demand for prostitution were to rise, then the benefit of running a sex trade increases. The cost doesn't change; the punishments would still be the same. And it is easier to hide.

Being registered with, and inspected by the government does NOT make it easier to hide trafficking, quite the opposite actually. Of course, it doesn't magically erase it, but it would drastically reduce it (in anything even closely resembling proper regulation, of course).

 

[Truthy]

Another one of these polls....

I'll quote myself from a few years ago:

I'm pretty much in favor of legal, regulated prostitution (must be 18, must have health checks, relegated to specific areas, etc....) as my view is that most legal relationships are very often a form of prostitution anyway. You think that any time a 20 year old marries some 50 year old movie star that that's really about "love"? Plenty of cultures have arranged marriages which are, in many ways, business transactions. In work situations, people often use sex as a way to advance their careers, etc.... I remember a recent incident in which a US celebrity was accused of rape and he promptly bought his wife (who was not the victim) a 2 million dollar diamond. That wasn't a business transaction? Have you even took a job or looked the other way simply for $$?

Just because some wrongdoings are legal doesn't mean that all wrongdoings should be legal.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Just because some wrongdoings are legal doesn't mean that all wrongdoings should be legal.

Agreed of course, but where do we draw the line? I'd argue when it harms someone other than willing, consenting parties.

 

[Flying Pig]

Agreed of course, but where do we draw the line?
I'd argue when it harms someone other than willing, consenting parties.

Now of course the debate about what constitutes a consenting party... I'll just say that one can be forced into an action by means other than being told to do it.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Now of course the debate about what constitutes a consenting party... I'll just say that one can be forced into an action by means other than being told to do it.

I don't know nearly enough about that. I'm sure you are correct, but I need a good example to look at, since I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough about it.

 

[Flying Pig]

I don't know nearly enough about that. I'm sure you are correct, but I need a good example to look at, since I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough about it.

Straight out of Marx, but if you have to do something in order to earn a living wage, it's not a free choice whether you do it or not. Clearly that applies in a great deal of these cases especially where the women in question are addicted to very expensive drugs.