The Carpetbagger Report discusses the efforts of the Bush administration to crack down on pornography legal adult material that breaks no laws, but which can be suppressed through government action:
[T]his seems destined to fail. Miserably. By some estimates, this is a $12 billion industry, suggesting that the free market has spoken.
Ward may not like it, but it seems there are a whole lot of Americans spending a whole lot of money on this stuff. Some of them are probably even religious and conservative because there arent enough heathens with enough disposable income to bolster this kind of lucrative industry.
If we were to be concerned primarily or solely with the free market, then presumably pornography should be permitted after all, if that's what people want then we should let them decide for themselves. Most conservative evangelical Christians would never go along with that, however, because they regard explicit sexual material to be a sin. Why is it that conservative evangelical Christians are such big supporters of the "free market" when it doesn't conflict with their religious morality regardless of who else might get hurt in the process?
…there are a whole lot of Americans spending a whole lot of money on this stuff. Some of them are probably even religious and conservative…
I wish I could find it now, but I remember seeing recently that citizens of Salt Lake City, home of the LDS church, spend more money per capita on porn than in any other city in the nation. To me, that says that repression can’t suppress desire, regardless of how much the religionists want to pretend.
If you dont like porn, then dont buy it! If you dont like Fords, then buy a Honda instead!
Dont make porn or Ford trucks illegal just because you think they are distasteful.
And in response to the earlier comment, I agree 100%. Repression leads to compulsion, which means that those who repress their sexual urges will only find themselves unable to control such urges and acting them out in increasingly bizarre ways.
Godless Geek,
I recall hearing the same thing in the last year or so. I found a link which I think you will find helpful:
http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2006/edit_2006-05-18.cfm
christian conservatives aren’t pro free market at all. it’s an oxymoron for someone to claim to be a conservative christian & claim to support the free market at the same time. the only reason they say they support the free market is because it’s generally accepted that conservatives support the free market. even though that conflicts with the bible.
This topic never ceases to amaze me (the whole sex is bad) thing. I obviously don’t believe in any gods, but the people who do always are so hung up on it. “If” there god created everything that means he created sex and all the parts to go along with it. So why is it (sex) so bad? I won’t go into a lot of detail here..it just makes no sense, like a lot of “there” ideas!
Chuck
Why do the religious not see that competition in the free market is so thoroughly darwinian? All competition has darwinian roots. Actually if only 144,000 people get to heaven then competition could presumably be part of the Christian ethos and thus part of a darwinian free market. “Holier than though” would really mean something at last.
There is no such thing as a free market and there never will be. The useless rich call the tune, bribe government and establish tariffs.
All vices should be socialized or at least very heavily regulated because they exploit human weaknesses.
I’ll never forget the story years back about a staff member at a hotel hosting the PTL club reporting that 80% of the attendants had accessed the pay for porn channel in their rooms. LOL