Should prostitution be legal?

[Haydn2]

Essential?

Working in a fast food chain is essential?

Okay maybe a lot of Americans need their daily serving of Big Macs but being a burger flipper is certainly not an essential job.

Besides, how do you define essential?

I used those particular jobs to try and make a point. That it's nothing to do with what you consider 'a good career choice'. Some don't have the skills to do better paid more 'reputable' jobs, some people are just suited to that kind of work, and some people do it even though it's not actually their chosen career path at all, but rather a part time/full time employment that gives them money when their natural career choice is not viable for whatever reason. I mean, I'm pretty sure the percentage of us that actually get to do our chosen career choice in life is far smaller than those who don't get that chance.

The essentialness of any job doesn't determine whether it's a 'good' career choice, and regardless of whether you think it is or not, who are you to tell people what they should do for a living?

I think we're veering off topic here a bit mate .
I don't think is worth debating over how essential bin men are , but im guessing they are quite important.
I have no interest in telling people what they should do for a living , but i'd advise against things like drug dealer etc.

And I've read that every prostitute in the world loves their job. Does this mean I'm right?

(Note, I haven't actually read that, but I'm just trying to make a point, what you may or may not have read doesn't make it correct)

My stance is that i don't think prostitution should be legal , because i think it is damaging to the indivdual.
Yes i've read this ( accounts from ex-hookers etc) perhaps they were lieing , or perhaps it was someone posing as a hooker , i don't know for sure .
And can i assume that those who agree with legalistion have looked broadly into the after effects of prostitution on the individual? What were thier sources , did they read it?

An opinion is just as guilty as an argument of committing a fallacy.

It's semantics.

I said ''i can't see how legalsiation is a good thing'' . Thats true , because i can't , so im unsure of your point.

Not really why I said that, although it was a contributing factor.

I do consider being against legalising prostitution to be an irrational position. Considering you're against it (which I think is irrational), and you're also not a big fan of porn, it does seem to suggest you perhaps have an irrational problem with sex.

Or is that too much of a conclusion to make? Well, let's just call it a hunch.

Again im against the legalistion of prostitution because i think it is damaging to the individual . I just don't understand why you think that is irrational and why my lack of interest in porn is related.

[Nine]

Prostitution being illegal is a shit deal for everyone involved. As long as there are people willing to pay for sex and others willing to have sex those people for the money prostitution will exist. It being illegal just means that it cant be regulated and means all involved are at risk. This is how you end up with bullshit like sex trafficking, the spread of STD's, and all sorts of horrors for the people involved.

Many professions have physical and mental risks just like prostitution but by making it legal the people who choose to do it are safer and can choose to stop whenever they feel, rather than being forced into it by criminal organizations. It also means that the people involved who are rarely a risk to society don't end up in prison which is potentially devastating to the lives of that person and expensive to the tax payer.

[liam]

I think there is a great deal of cultural stigmatism attached to this (not least by our favourite religiods) and there would undoubtedly be an outcry against whichever administration put the prostitution business into legality. To be fair, there ought to be a serious legislatory debate regarding this, yet the problem is undoubtedly that prudishness in society would end up stopping it in its tracks because, despite their selectiveness, political parties are still in it for the votes.

[IATIA]

Prostitution being illegal is a shit deal for everyone involved. As long as there are people willing to pay for sex and others willing to have sex those people for the money prostitution will exist. It being illegal just means that it cant be regulated and means all involved are at risk. This is how you end up with bullshit like sex trafficking, the spread of STD's, and all sorts of horrors for the people involved.

The same can be said of drugs and gambling. Prohibition is a perfect demonstration of legal vs. illegal.

Regardless of the arguments of 'problems' in legalization, these 'problems' still exist plus MANY more. Legalization substantially eliminates crime and victims.

Take the money saved from enforcing draconian laws and use it for education and prosperity.

[Napoléon]

I think we're veering off topic here a bit mate .

It wasn't if you actually understood the point I was making

I don't think is worth debating over how essential bin men are , but im guessing they are quite important.

Dude, the point is not about bin men, the point is precisely that it doesn't bloody matter what you consider an essential job. You're getting hung up on the examples I'm using rather than getting the point.

I have no interest in telling people what they should do for a living

Then why would you hold the position that prostitution be illegal? Rather than regulated and legal?

To me, outlawing something is intending to control what people do. Now it's necessary for things like murder and rape sure (the reasons should be obvious), but if you're saying you don't care that people are prostitutes why is there the need to control it?

I'm not hearing any reasons other than your preconceptions of what prostitution entails.

but i'd advise against things like drug dealer etc.

Well, I think drugs should be legal across the board, but I guess that really is veering off topic.

My stance is that i don't think prostitution should be legal , because i think it is damaging to the indivdual.

Alcohol is damaging to the individual, but that is legal.

Smoking is damaging to the individual, but that is also legal.

I'm afraid something being 'dangerous' to the individual really has no significant bearing on whether it is legal or not (although the governments would like you to think so).

Yes i've read this ( accounts from ex-hookers etc) perhaps they were lieing , or perhaps it was someone posing as a hooker , i don't know for sure .

Perhaps they were simply telling the truth and their experiences of prostitution were actually quite positive. Just because what people say doesn't conform to your preconceptions doesn't mean they're lying. Either way it doesn't matter.

And can i assume that those who agree with legalistion have looked broadly into the after effects of prostitution on the individual? What were thier sources , did they read it?

Not quite sure what your point is here. Again, whether it's dangerous or not, is irrelevant to whether it should be legal. It's a question of freedom of choice in my opinion, not whether a nannying state has the right to tell you not to do something because it might be dangerous.

I said ''i can't see how legalsiation is a good thing'' . Thats true , because i can't , so im unsure of your point.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity

Maybe you did just intend it as a statement and nothing more, however it's still very much an argument from incredulity IMHO.

Again im against the legalistion of prostitution because i think it is damaging to the individual . I just don't understand why you think that is irrational and why my lack of interest in porn is related.

Lol, alright let's forget the porn thing that's going nowhere.

I find it irrational because you're basically saying:

It's dangerous to individual --> it should be illegal

Perhaps I've assumed that you would like to live in a free world too readily, but if you value freedom then this kind of thinking surely goes against those values?

[Haydn2]

I thinks theres a couple of points we may have mis-understood eachother here , but they are not particularly worth bleating on about.

I think we've got the main gist of the argument is whether what is dangerous (or harmful) to the individual should be illegal or not.

For me , i think with some things people need to be saved from themselves . Like drugs , prostitution etc. But i have to agree that infringes on complete freedom.

And for you , you think these things should be legal and although this
may be harmful (and fatal) people should have the freedom to make thier own mistakes(is that a fair comment?)

But do you think this is best purely to maximise
freedom for the individual and/or do you think this would create a more happy/content
society? Take legalising heroin for example . How would regulation better improve this situation , say , over its hypothetical complete
annilation? ( or perhaps that is too extreme an example?)

[The Grand Nudger]

Yeah that's sex for you, damaging to the individual and just like heroin - maybe fatal. We should outlaw it at once....

What folks have been trying to explain to you (and what I'm just about certain you understand completely) is that prostitution is the exchange of currency for sex. It is not pimping, it is not rape, it is not assault, it is not a narcotic, it is not poverty...........etc etc etc. That some of these things have been associated with prostitution might, just might, have something to do with it's criminal status in the first place.

[IATIA]

Death stats

I guess we should make cars and doctors illegal.

[TaraJo]

Death stats

I guess we should make cars and doctors illegal.

Hell, obesity is quickly becoming one of the biggest health concerns in America. If we're going to make things illegal because they aren't good for you, does that mean we need to start taking out unhealthy foods, too?

[Haydn2]

Hell, obesity is quickly becoming one of the biggest health concerns in America. If we're going to make things illegal because they aren't good for you, does that mean we need to start taking out unhealthy foods, too?

Yes good point Tara start with hydrogenated vegetable oil .