Posted on 03/21/2012 12:06:50 PM PDT by presidio9
Rick Santorum hasnt been shy about wanting to return America to its good ol Puritan days. Santorum has openly championed against separation of Church and State, homosexuality, contraception, NAFTA, teleprompters, but what has escaped many is his plan to ban pornography.
Santorum has tried to be the candidate that wants to create jobs, yet doing so would actually hurt our economy and significantly demotivate a significant portion of the population.
In 2010, 12% of websites on the internet were pornography related, accounting for $2.84 billion per year online. Worldwide, that number grows to $4.9 billion, meaning that the United States is currently dominating the production and export of pornography. When you factor in traditional outlets, the porn industry generates about $13 billion in revenue. While that number may not sound like a lot when compared to the $4 billion tax break oil companies receive from the government, its comparable to the revenue of some big name companies like Viacom or Texas Instruments.
While it has been said that the porn industry has suffered in the recession, other economies continue to grow. But even in these countries people still need to consume pornography. America, in true fashion of being #1, currently outperforms other producers of porn by a significant amount of money. Unfortunately, a good deal of revenue is lost due to free streaming websites or illegally shared content, much like the film and music industry.
Its online presence has been so big that ICANN has recently created a top-level domain just for porn sites. This helps combat the growing number of children stumbling across porn online. While many argue that children shouldnt run free around the internet, parents should take better precautions regulating where they can visit online. Just because many do not take the time to learn about parental controls doesnt mean that they have the right to be the worlds moral police.
Now, ignore for a moment the morality behind pornography. Knowing that this industry contributes a significant amount of tax revenue, shouldnt it be allowed to continue? We consistently raise taxes on cigarettes (about $12 per pack in New York) despite its harmful health benefits rather than outright outlaw them. It is ridiculous to think that because pornography clashes with Santorums Leave it to Beaver idea of America that we could potentially see such a huge loss in tax revenue. Dont even get me started on how much tax revenue were currently missing out from the estimated $35 billion marijuana cultivation industry (imports from Canada and Mexico put this number closer to $100 billion).
Were living in a time where people can better find communities that better reflect their personal views on morality. Were still learning to find the balance between sharing too much and not sharing enough. We may be moving towards a Brave New World-type society but what is more troubling is the potential number of people behind ideas like this without having read Brave New World.
Bottom line, America produces too much profitable pornography to make it illegal. It creates jobs, brings money into our lagging economy and gives hope to anybody who has ever worked as a pizza delivery guy. Moral fiber be damned, we cant complain about both morality and how much money me pay each week for gas or taxes.
If a vice is profitable, then since we need jobs we had better encourage the particular vice.
Oh, if he only could ban porn. I’m afraid that’s far beyond the abilities of any one man at this point.
There is that whole pesky "Freedom of the Press" issue. My stance is simple - let the market speak on the matter. If people want to spend their money, they will. If there is no interst in this, then economics will cause this industry to fail.
So far, this industry is far from failing - there is no shortage of young men/women willing to "pose" or "act" for a few dollars. Life is full of decisions, sometimes we make wise decisions, and are rewarded for them. Sometimes we make foolish decisions, and we are generally punished for those as well. In the end, neither you nor I get to arbitrate on the actions of others; we are held accountable for the sins we committed.
Banning porn would be okay.
This is similiar logic to "We need federal funding for Planned Parenthood (which gets most of its revenues from infanticide) because otherwise women everwhere will lose healthcare."
He never said anything about banning porn. He said he would enforce the laws that are the books.
How hard is that to uderstand?
Aside from this being contrary to the US Constitution (and yes, there was porn back then too); who gets to arbitrate what is, and what isn't "Porn"?
Do we let a group of Parents , who don't know their collective backsides from a jar of jelly, get to decide?
Or, do you suggest we impliment some "Thought Police" who get to determine what people are thinking when they read material, and punish them for their alleged thoughts? We either have a Constitution, or we do not. We either support it, or let's just save some time and aggrivation and burn it - that appears to be what Obama wants to do.
Just as with abortionists, leftists often look the other way when laws are violated. THIS is what he would crack down upon. Banning porn? Another BIG LIE.
-—In the end, neither you nor I get to arbitrate on the actions of others;-—
It’s why we have laws.
——we are held accountable for the sins we committed——
In the next life, and in this.
Since pornography is evil, it is permissible to outlaw it, in principle.
Whether it’s practical, is the fundamental question.
It should be restricted, whenever practical.
It destroys marriages, the producers and the participants, among other things.
We've been down this road. Not only would banning porn be unconstitutional and lead to questions about legitmate representations of nudity (Ex: Michelangelo's "David"), but enforcing such a ban would be about as sucessful as outlawing speeding.
“Oh, if he only could ban porn. Im afraid thats far beyond the abilities of any one man at this point.”
Porn is illegal in Saudi Arabia and Iran, and was illegal in the Soviet Union. Those proscriptions did not make those nations whole or healthy. Hiding symptoms does not effect a cure in diseased cultures.
So does obesity, smoking, too much salt, and alcohol. We tried to outlaw alcohol, how did that work out? How’s that old war on drugs doing? Have any drug users quit becuase their supply has dried up? How many new drugs have emerged since we started our little ‘war’?
You can’t legislate morality, it simply doesn’t work; and frankly, you shouldn’t try. People will do what people will do. All that happens is that you increase the perceived value of the vice, the profitability of the vice, and the greed precipitates violence against the innocent.
I do agree with you 100% in your statement “enforce the laws”. Generally speaking, if the laws were enforced, there would be no need to create new laws (that are going to be ignored as well).
What about prostitution? Think of all the jobs that would be created if that were legal. Anyone against prostitution “Wants to kill jobs”!
“...let the market speak...”???
“...there is no shortage of young men/women willing to “pose” or “act” for a few dollars.”
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You know you are advocating for the sexual abuse of minors, don’t you?
Just how many laws do you want to eliminate so that we don’t infringe on the Constitution? So that porn (most of which is child-centric) can flourish?
I know that I’m not supposed to engage in personal attacks, so I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what I think of you and everyone else who defends pornography.
I don’t know which is worse. You comparing porn to Michelangelo’s “David”, or you not know that speeding is already outlawed.
Are you really OK with porn being open and made completely legal? No restrictions at all?
After all, the Constitution doesn’t prohibit it, so it must be OK?
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And Japanese tentacle hentai is definitely *NOT* pornographic. It's art!
Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend is completely fine...
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