Letters to the Editor
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The Evolution of the Police State
Glenn, you have astutely observed, described and criticized the process of governmental and corporate collusion which is driving America inevitably toward becoming a "police state." What you are now observing is the slow but deliberate turn of the social mechanism toward that same goal.
Americans on both sides of the political aisle are moralists. While Republicans may accuse Democrats of "moral relativism," the same Mosaic law informs the morals and ethics of both groups. During the Clinton scandal, those who did not favor the prosecution of the President were quick to point out they considered his actions "immoral." Adultery is, after all, condemned in the Ten Commandments.
You can observe this same sea change wherever a free nation has turned to totalitarianism. First the collusion of governmental bureacracy and corporate interests, which leads to military extravagances such as war, invasion, occupation, etc. Then the "crackdown" at home, involving the dismantling or co-opting of the press and media. By way of this media, the bureaucracy broadcasts its propaganda, inspiring the choir that is already in agreement and building a "soft middle" that prefers to avoid conflict. In this manner, contrary opinions are stifled and eventually eliminated.
Then the moral fires are ignited. Citizens are indignant, then intolerant, of moral excesses. Witness the Democratic backlash against San Francisco's mayor: outraged moralists who accuse the mayor of "damaging" the party because he committed the unacceptable sin of "adultery" (or because he chose his personal morals - belief in gay marriage - over the political interests of the party). Democrats angry with Spitzer over his position in the immigration debate have likewise accused him of damaging the party. His moral transgressions add fuel to the fire of their indignation. He will resign and be punished for this, in lieu of being punished for his true crime - daring to think apart from the crowd.
As Mill notes, the tyranny of society is more powerful than the government. The governmental-corporate bureaucracy has done its job well in laying the groundwork. It is the people of America who will now drive the car into the abyss of tyranny.
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Hypocracy is the Only Political Crime
A politician won't be shunned for lying through his teeth; he's safe when he kills thousands of people on bad information; he can't be faulted for granting huge favors to friends (if it's without compensation); he can violate the U.S. Constitution with impunity. But, he can't actually do what he says ought to be illegal.
The reason? Big, powerful government is all about trust, faith, loyalty, and the virtue of those to whom we grant total, arbitrary, and supreme power. The burden of any form of oligarchy is that the practitioners have to be consistent. They can't do what they say others ought to punished for doing.
The Spitzer case has nothing to do with prostitution. The investigation was started because Spitzer tried to hide his payments, which - as we know - is "probable cause" for believing someone to be a terrorist, from federal snoops. And, we know Spitzer was a terrorist: spreading fear among all of those who dared to pay for sexual favors ... or conduct any kind of financial transaction that aren't explicitly approved in advance by law.
The media is only guilty of titilation, but that's their job: selling crass sexual amusements for a price. No hypocrasy there. The crime is not being horny, it's failing to report the price of horniness to the IRS.
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@Joshua
Follow Sweden's lead.
Prosecute the johns and pimps aggressively.
Offer the prostitutes, who cannot be in any case prosecuted, help in getting out of the lifestyle. Of course they must make this decision to accept this help, but make it available.
Try to read up on how Sweden is doing with this method. Sorry I don't have a link.
At any rate this new approach is in the young stage.
Europe is struggling with trying to find approaches because legalization has failed so dramatically. Legalization has actually increased prostitution, sex slavery, and trafficking, apparently by facilitating demand, e.g. these places become destinations. It has not helped prostitutes, and it certainly has not reduced the numbers of them.
Nevada is no haven for sex workers although prostitution is legal there. In reality hooking in Nevada is just as unsavory and exposes the hooker to just as much danger and slimy lowlife as anywhere else in the country. A lot has been written about it, prostitution is a favorite obsession of sociology folks--gee wonder why? way to get published and noticed!--and Nevada is in the States, no travel expenses, so prostitution has been almost exhaustively studied there.
What you get from these studies is more "Leaving Las Vegas" than Happy Hooker but then you can't convince the guys on this thread that prostitution is abuse of women. I wonder what these people have to say about Elizabeth Shue's portrayal of Sara.
If people's heads are exploding when I write something as simple as this, I don't know, I suppose I need to take that as a compliment. The screaming and petulance of these pro-prostitution scolds reveals their own emotional problems and their own attitudes, esp. towards women. What are people thinking when they throw the word "moral" at your head like it's some kind of disgusting slur.
I always thought "moral" was a good word, that it meant that you knew the difference between right and wrong. And wrong is when somebody gets hurt. No truthful person can argue that prostitutes don't get hurt, routinely and predictably. Statistically, most have been abused since childhood.
It's wrong to buy other people, esp. weak and vulnerable people, for the purpose of fucking them. Wrong. Just wrong. It just is. In addition to everything I have written about it, it's something I feel in my gut, as a woman, a mother, and in the past, a girl on the dating scene who was pretty and viewed as so much meat on a hook. It's just something I know. I am secure in this and am sorry if some sick men want to get on this thread and scream at me about it. Prostitution is misogyny and abuse of women. This is true. Pigheaded people can, and have, argued that murder, rape, and robbery are all acceptable, but that doesn't make it so.
Let's not lose sight of right and wrong here. Is it wrong to buy other people and then in the most personal, intimate way possible, reduce their status to that of objects, of toys? If it is, then prostitution is wrong. All bloviating aside, it really is that simple.