The World's
Oldest Profession

Seems like I stirred up some feelings with "Prostitutes Nominated for Honesty Award" (elsewhere in this listing).

For those who pointed out that prostitution causes crime, I would like to submit that most of the criminal activity surrounding prostitution is the direct result of...

...forcing it into the underworld of illegal activities...

...right along side of those unsavory types who inhabit that world.

Countries where prostitution is completely legal don't have the crime problems associated it with that we do.

Yet, in the United States prostitution is a real problem.

But there's a real solution.

Legalize it.*

It already is in many parts of the world.

Even in at least one Nevada county in the good ol' U-S-of-A.

If prostitution were legal we could

• reduce or eliminate the rampant victimization of prostitutes by pimps, johns, and the whole unsavory raft of criminal elements now associated with it
   
• control disease by requiring regular checkups and health certificates
   
• get many prostitutes off the street and into a controlled environment
   
• put more of our limited law enforcement resources into fighting major crimes
   
• take away the impetus to get young women (and men) hooked on drugs in order to turn them into prostitutes (and profit)
   
• eliminate a significant source of income for organized crime, and
   
• put prostitution officially on the tax rolls.

Right now, instead of deriving income from prostitution, we are spending large sums of money trying to wipe out "an evil" which....

...has largely been created....

...in a muddled effort to legislate morality.

By legalizing prostitution, we would not be condoning it.

...Sort of like William Buckley's motivation for legalizing drugs. (Sometimes you find yourself in pretty strange company.)

By legalizing prostitution, we would be saying we have finally gotten smart enough to face facts about the world's oldest profession...

...and opt for the lesser of the evils.

Strangely, this is exactly the same conclusion the Catholic Church came to many years ago...

...before the anti-sex factions got control.

With some of the tax revenue generated by legalizing prostitution we could also do a little educating...

...inform some people that prostitution isn't exactly the way it is in Pretty Woman.

But, legalizing prostitution hasn't a chance in hell.

It makes too much sense.

And it would be politically unpopular.

And politicians depend too much on inflating issues like this to get elected.

Interesting how we keep coming back to politics.

*I have been informed that many would prefer prostitution decriminalized instead of legalized.

 I'll admit I didn't see a difference when I first wrote this.  But, according to at least two organizations of "working women," if prostitution is just legalized, it will allow the government to impose all manner of unrealistic controls, which means that the new laws will also be largely ignored.

Decriminalizing it would make it no different than safe little sports like boxing, demolition derbies, and ice hockey.

---

More detailed information on this subject can be found here.