Oh, what a spectacularly poor example to choose…
It might screw up with the idea of middle-class marriage contract seekers.
There’s nothing illegal about going somewhere to get any part of your body, including the naughty parts, manipulated in a medical capacity. A better analogy would be that “legitimate” massage is perfectly legal but sexual massage is not.
But as I noted earlier in this thread, sexual vs. nonsexual makes a difference when it comes to non-consensual acts. If I touch someone sexually without their consent, that’s a different thing than if I touch them on some more innocent part of their body—and much of the difference does come down to emotion.
At a “massage parlor”, anyway - the handjob kind - it’s you that’s being touched, not them, and you’re definitely consenting to it. And anyway, if I go around sticking needles in peoples’ bodies, I’d be charged with battery. If I set up an acupuncture practice and charge them money for it, I’m…a legitimate businessman. (Let’s leave aside questions of whether acupuncture actually does anything.) Seems to me that the consent issue would be solved by signing some kind of waiver, anyway.
Whoever said the U.S. Constitution “guaranteed” anything? Not anyone that took a basic civics course and who understood that the U.S. Constitution is about liberty, justice and opportunity.
Seems you glossed over the entire premise of what you think you understand…try again, here it is
(Preamble)
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domesticTranquility, provide for the commondefence, promote the generalWelfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and ourPosterity, doordainand establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
It’s nice to know that the egotistical nonsense of ‘American Exceptionalism’ has been around since its conception. How do you improve upon perfection, anyways, especially one without established justice, ensured domestic tranquility, et al?
late edit:
It’s nice to know that the egotistical nonsense of ‘American Exceptionalism’ has been around since its conception. How do you improve upon perfection, anyways? How perfect could it have been if it lacked established justice and assured domestic tranquility, et al?
I interpret “more perfect” in that context to mean “closer to perfection.”
As in, “The U.S. Constitution isn’t perfect, but at least it’s more perfect than the Articles of Confederation.”
Apparently it’s not “egotistical nonsense”…we’re (and by we’re I mean these United States) still here and we’re still #1.
By what metric?
That’s an excellent point. Take Nevada, for instance. Sure, I can get an Uber ride out in the middle of the desert and find a beautiful prostitute that would cost, from my latest reading (no cite) $600-$700 for her basic services. Of course condoms must be used, even for oral sex.
Even with that system, there will remain less attractive women who will work in the illicit market, charge less and those willing to perform oral sex, or any other type of sex without a condom. Sure, that’s a stupid thing to do in that profession (whether you are the customer or the prostitute) but there is a demand for it and it happens.
You also have the market for a $40 blow job from a crack whore in some alleyway.
Legalizing prostitution will not control the latter two markets, and just because we can point to the women who work in the legal brothels and say that they are treated well, do not have diseases, etc. does not even begin to address the still-illicit prostitution market that men will gladly pay for.
Humanitarian, economic, military, not to mention being the beacon for democracy.
#1 for military spending and humanitarian aid, certainly, although the extent to which either of those is desirable is debatable. “Economic” covers a wide range of metrics. And as for democracy, the US is way behind pretty much all of Scandinavia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, Mauritius, Estonia, Costa Rica and several others in the Democracy Index. It may once have been a “beacon of democracy” but it is now quite flawed.
The aforementioned countries you listed lean more towards a socialistic form of democracy which is counter to your initial premise.
So Canada is somehow deficient in democracy? Please explain. If it is high taxes on the rich you object to, then the US was not a democracy during the 1950s.
prostitution has very negative effects and does not improve the situation of the prostitutes; such legal systems only lead to crime and abuse. prostitution in some places and regarded as a profession, while at the other extreme, it is a crime punishable by death in some other places.
I’m not sure which “initial premise” you’re referring to that I am countering, nor why a “socialistic form of democracy” doesn’t count as “democracy”. The fact remains that democracy as currently practiced in America is flawed in many ways. It’s better than in many, many countries but it’s worse than others.
Plus the latter point about “socialistic democracy” reminds me of this argument, which I’ve spotted in the following succinct form on social media but have seen in various similar forms elsewhere including on this messageboard:
*Person 1: “Socialism never works.”
Person 2: “Scandivania is socialist and they’re doing great.”
P1: “They’re not socialist! They’re capitalist countries with strong welfare policies.”
P2: “Then let’s adopt those policies.”
P1: “NO, THAT’S SOCIALISM!”*
Who decided that the “Democracy Index” was the standard? Who decided that it means anything at all?
According to the Ultravires Index, the USA is #1, so we are even.