What Pollak said!
He's reacting specifically to the news about the polygamist compound in Texas, but this bit of wisdom covers a lot of bases:
There's always this caveat when people make libertarian platitudes towards sexual culture, as if saying "as long as everyone wants to, it's great" means that it will actually happen. My point is, it doesn't... there's a huge difference between the left/libertarian idealism of sexual liberty in America and the reality of its actual application by people who do not exactly have sexual equality in mind.
Oh, hell yes. And to my mind this is one of the best arguments against legalization of prostitution and other kinds of commercial sexual exploitation: For it to really work, a level playing field is necessary. And of course, the playing field is not level... at present, men have more power than women, and adults will always have more power than children. To pretend that this will change if everyone just mellows out and follows the "do what you will" philosophy is to ignore the realities of human experience.
Pollak just keeps getting better and better...
There's always this caveat when people make libertarian platitudes towards sexual culture, as if saying "as long as everyone wants to, it's great" means that it will actually happen. My point is, it doesn't... there's a huge difference between the left/libertarian idealism of sexual liberty in America and the reality of its actual application by people who do not exactly have sexual equality in mind.
Oh, hell yes. And to my mind this is one of the best arguments against legalization of prostitution and other kinds of commercial sexual exploitation: For it to really work, a level playing field is necessary. And of course, the playing field is not level... at present, men have more power than women, and adults will always have more power than children. To pretend that this will change if everyone just mellows out and follows the "do what you will" philosophy is to ignore the realities of human experience.
Pollak just keeps getting better and better...