162 Prostitution

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The stricture against prostitution originated in religion but now its continuance is more momentum & conservatism. There seems to be no rational reason to restrict prosetituion other than the obvious government regulation that any personal service business would enjoy. The condemnation seems to be a subtle manifestation of female jealousy, in the same realm as infidelity except many customers of prostitution have no relationship entanglements? In polling, half the population is for legalizing prostitution. If it had a constituency like Gay Marriage, legalizing prostitution would be a no-brainer, but whereas Gays have successful representatives in business, politics, and most importantly, the media; prostitutes are depicted as victims & hapless, degraded losers. Plus, the feminist movement, rather than applauding the empowerment of women, instead blames men for their primal biological imperative.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">With all the propaganda decrying prostitution & trumpeting its evils, it's easily disproved by the simple fact that prostitution is legal in Amsterdam, not to mention Nevada. The fact that the same acts not involving money is not illegal seems to escape the logic of restrictionists, and ignoring the prevalence of internet porn, almost 40% of all broadband traffic, and baldly advertised “escort services” in every local newspaper also appears to be voluntary-ignorance & inexplicable. Certainly prostitution is something that should be immediately legalized because any prohibition that turns 10s of millions of people into criminals is a bad idea, with all the usual consequences of selective enforcement, exploitation & true criminal activity.</p>