For most westernized societies, apart
from the US, it comes as no grand revelation that prostitution has
been legalized, supervised and taxed for years. Whether the country
is a constitutional monarchy, a democratic federation or a secular
electorate democracy, the fact that prostitution is neither vilified
nor aggrandized but tolerated is not a topic for immediate debate. It
is an exemplar of Voltaire's infamous summation of what the
Enlightenment saw as intrinsic democracy. Paraphrased his statement
reads; “I may not agree with what your are saying but I will fight
to the death for your right to say it”.
This is the cornerstone of democracy
and the implicit pledge to tolerate actions and ideas which are not
physically harmful to others. Libertarian pundits in the western
world adhere to this ideological tenet on this social issue but are
coyly dismissive when the same rhetoric is used in fiscal governance.
Nevertheless, if one explores Europe, especially Norther Europe,
prostitution is not only a visceral manifestation of this social
ideal; it's tangible; it's on the government's radar. Prostitution is
not only legal, it's also highly regulated in most Europe countries
(mandatory health screenings and copious documentation).
Additionally, there are also several localized labor unions devoted
to the woman of the night.
Throughout the short but dense American
history prostitution has nestled itself in the American psyche
encompassing all social milieux. Consider the brothels and street
walkers of America's oldest metropolitan areas; places like New York
City, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, to name but a few
documented cities. But a gritter and subtler form of prostitution
could be found on the advancing frontier of the American west. It is
an almost ubiquitous scene in any film which subscribes to the Wild
West format. This paradigm is not relegated to the big screen.
Television shows like Gun Smoke employed a leading character, Miss
Kitty, a brothel madam. To illustrate how ingrained and banal the
archetypical brothel madam was; her character was the love interest
of another lead character; Marshall Dylan: a governmental enforcer of
the law. This tradition has continued to flourish in America, albeit
under the radar and somewhat clandestine. The proud state of Nevada
is one of the last American bastions of prostitution in the modern
age. And they won't change a thing.
If this analogy seems anachronistic or
esoteric, then consider the modern pornography industry. This
business model thrives. It thrives because of the same mechanisms
which are infused in Colorado weed legalization and Nevada
prostitution legalization. The news outlet, CNBC, conducted a study
of the profitability of legalization of marijuana and came to several
staggering conclusions. They based their conclusions on data from
research groups like NORML (National Organization for the Repeal of
Marijuana Laws) and US Health and Human Services. Although the
numbers differ greatly, an aggregate of all revenue delivers an
estimate of taxes to be collected and overall savings in law
enforcement equalling $20 billion. That's an estimate before the
burgeoning cannabis cafe revolution in the US. What are the numbers
then for prostitution?
According to an ABC PrimeTime report;
$10 billion a year is generated through the various distribution
channels of the porn industry. Even more astonishing is that large
multi-national corporation realize the innate cash cow that is
pornography; “Companies like General Motors, AOL Time Warner and
Marriott earn revenue by piping adult movies into Americans' homes
and hotel rooms, but you won't see anything about it in their company
reports”. It appears that sex, as a commodity, is trading with
relative impunity as a blue chip stock in the US. Why not
prostitution?
Many people, it appears, don't take
much umbrage to pornography, if it is tightly scrutinized and
adequate foresight is maintained. Things like age requirements for
performers and consumers as well as legal consent without duress for
performers, are probably the chief concerns for those who have a
laissez-faire or libertarian view towards the industry. But what is
the fundamental difference? None really if one considers that the
aforementioned criteria are met. Both prostitution and pornography as
well as marijuana consumption are victimless if these criteria are
adhered to under the law.
Let's do the numbers. Tracey Pierce
Sonntag, in an article entitled “Case for Legalization ofProstitution” illustrates the financial feasibility of prostitution
we can utilize the data collected on one Nevada brothel. Her findings
reveal that an employee at the brothel earns $100,000 taxable income
a year. This is if the employee is only working on week per month!
What's more remarkable, on a financial-tax scale, is that there are
an approximately 1 million, on a conservative estimate, prostitutes
in the US which could yield a whopping $20 billion or more a year in
taxes.
Much like the crusades being waged
through America to decriminalize and ultimately legalize marijuana,
so too should America embrace her prostitution past and decriminalize
and ultimately legalize prostitution.
