Thaius said:
Besides the spread of STDs, it would be yet another step in destroying the institution of marriage. No doubt there will be people who will argue that marriage is not needed and that sex is just for entertainment and reproduction, but this is simply not the case. Marriage and the family unit are some of the most important aspects of any society: take a high-school level sociology class to figure that one out. We've already desecrated and destroyed marriage enough: legal prostitution would only serve to further destroy the family unit and destabilize a society that is already suffering.
I don't like this argument. Not that I support legalization either, but this seems faulty.
I tend to agree that marriage is important, and the "family unit" is important. I fail to see how prostitution being legal destroys it. I think your argument is something along the lines of "if sex is too easy to get, then there's no reason to get/stay married" or "if prostitution is too accessible, then people will inevitably cheat on their partners."
I doubt that sex is a primary motivation for people to get married, if that is your argument.
The second argument may hold some water, but I doubt that sex is all that inaccessible currently. I therefore doubt that increased supply will have any significant effect on families. I just think cheaters gonna cheat, but normal people require more extraordinary circumstances to cheat on their partner than prostitution existing. Like actual relationships with other people.
I also doubt that "the institution of marriage is under attack." From what source?
OT: I think that legalizing and controlling prostitution might help, but it would probably end up re-creating the same problems that exist with it. If I were to litigate the health issues of prostitution, I would require routine health exams for the employees, certification for those involved that they have sufficient sex-education and knowledge of proper birth control usage. But I wouldn't stop there, condoms are not a good enough safeguard against STDs in my opinion, though they definitely do help. I'd also require certification of sexual health from prospective customers.
And that's just basic stuff to ensure that the prostitutes don't inevitably end up with STDs. The problem is: what about those prostitutes who already have STDs? They would not be legally allowed to be whores. And what about customers with STDs? They would not be allowed to be customers. So there would still be a supply and demand, resulting in a black market, with unsafe practices. While it would certainly benefit some prostitutes, it certainly wouldn't do anything to help the ones who are already in horrible conditions, and it might actually force others into more horrible conditions.
Perhaps if there were contracts stipulating knowledge that a prostitute had STDs, and releasing them from any claims to harm if you contract that STD, prostitutes could continue to "work" even if they weren't completely healthy. But customers with STDs? I don't even know. No sane prostitute would take them, because if they jeopardize their health, they jeopardize their certification. And so there would be a demand still. And likely still a black market.
Honestly, I would rather the government spend its money on creating other jobs, rather than legislating prostitution. And even if legalizing prostitution was convincingly better than what we have now, I doubt the government would take action. Look at marijuana. It's considered to be political suicide to attempt to legalize something that people have kneejerk reactions to, and therefore it will not change.
While I support neither prostitution nor the smoking of marijuana, I believe I could get my head around supporting the legalization of them in the interest of the greater good.
