Bias against Prostitution..!!

A few days ago, there was an inspired discussion between three of my friends regarding prostitution and ills of it. Just when they were about to stop, I uttered the most sinful sentence they would have never wanted to hear : Everyone owns his/her body.. Legalize Prostitution!!!

It amazes me how even the most capable people forget liberty and easily give into the "concepts" of law and morality. I believe that in the every-lasting quest for objectively perfect world, we have lost vision of subjectivity and liberty. We have become slaves of rules and rule-makers. Prostitution, one of the world's oldest profession, is the best example.

We, as humans, should have rights over our own body. The way it should be taken care should be left to the discretion of the person. When a female "voluntarily" wants to indulge in prostitution, its her choice. Any law, any act to prevent her from indulging into it, is infringement of rights over her body. Its not the voluntary act of prostitution which should be punishable; any act to prevent it should be.

People argue that prostitution is heinous, causes body pain, results in death etc. Its amazing how an propaganda and false assumptions can make even the most educated falter; falter bad in formation of opinions. If we look at it, is there any profession which does not cause any harm to human body ? Every profession causes physical effects and/or mental stress. If body pain or causing death is a parameter then, all, I mean all professions are guilty of the same. In true sense, every day we work, we are a reason for someone's hunger, someone's pain and someone's death. By working, we are taking away an opportunity for someone else to work and hence to earn and hence to take care of oneself and his/her family. Coming to the 'heinous' part, it is a very subjective term. There is no parameter to measure 'heinous' nature. What is pain for me is enjoyment for a masochist.

People most often fail to realize the difference between legal and illegal options. It is not the illegal prostitution that I am defending. Illegal Prostitution, just like illegal guns and drugs are bad. They are done through force. It is the violation of the most basic right over one's body and it should be punishable under law. It most often involves cartels and anti-social elements. When people speak about prostitution, they most often speak about illegal prostitution. Legalized Prostitution is like any other business : There are producers(service providers) and there are consumers. There is a mutually agreed transaction.

The most bizarre argument that I came across was in the lines of prostitution breaking families. It is a typical example of missing what is not seen. Call-center jobs for example, might lead to very bad family balance and cause breakups. Doctors' profession is another example. Money, lack of it or drive for it, cause break-ups. Since money can be a reason, every-thing that money can buy is a reason : costly dresses, speedy cars, posh restaurants etc etc. If people believe that the moment prostitution is legalized, every man and/or woman would be queuing infront of prostitution houses, then it simply means, it is a basic necessity for life !! [Just a thought: In olden days, does it mean, everyone was visiting prostitution houses and there were no families? ]

Liberals actually dont walk alone on this issue. For a change, we have some socialists for company in fight for legalization of prostitution(and drugs). The similarity ends there though. They have their own reasons which we liberals despise anyway : It allows for taxing the money obtained from legalized prostitution, it would allow to regulate prostitution through law, it provides more job opportunities, it would pave way for prostitute unions, provide employee rights etc.

Then why was Prostitution ever banned ? I find this question a pretty intriguing one. During the course of 'evolution' of man, there have been lots of bad policies, wrong theories and human rights violation amongst good ones. Everything is not black and white. The very concept of 'evolution' depends on where we stand, what we see and when we see. In India, betting is illegal while in UK, it is legal. If we were staying in Holland, we have evolved from the days when prostitution was illegal. If we were staying in India, we would have evolved from the days when prostitution was legal. If liberals like me are successful, in future, hopefully, every-one would have evolved to respect right over one's body. A door at half-way, after-all tells us nothing : It can be on its way to shut close or on its way shut open.

"If prostitution can be legalized, then DUI should be allowed", thundered a friend of mine. Technically speaking, we have economists like Jr. Rockwell who actually argue for legalization of DUI : http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/drunkdriving.html. I have a different take on DUI legalization but its a different topic. Coming back, DUI for me is a completely different proposition to prostitution; as different as circle and square. DUI 'can' be harmful to entities not involved in the act. How-ever, prostitution is not harmful to an entity not involved in the act, in any special way. Prostitution, if anything can be compared to the act of drinking, not DUI. Just to flip a bit, if prostitution can't be legalized, then why should smoking, drinking, soda, over-eating, fat products be legalized ?

One of my friends recently commented that its a bit too rich for someone who doesn't even drink to have strong feelings on subjects like drug legalization etc. It is not; because issue for me is "regulation" of acts which doesn't involve or cause violation of property rights, which for me is blatant violation of liberty. To quote Lord Acton, "Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end."

On a closing note, is it selling that makes prostitution a taboo ? is it sex that makes prostitution a taboo ? If either of them is, then, almost all men and women on the face of this earth are guilty of it. To quote someone: "if selling is legal and sex is legal, then why is selling sex not legal ?"

Agree or dis-agree with my views ? Drop in your shout in comments section.