An Argument For Polygamy/Polyandry/Polyamory

I have posted on this blog about my beliefs that same sex marriage should remain legal, primarily because the government should stay out of the bedrooms of its citizens. Now, with polygamy so much in the news due to the Texas case of the splinter Mormon group that practiced polygamy and was raided, I thought I would go on record as to my reasons for supporting polygamy as well.

Now I should clarify, I do not support what the Texas group was doing should the claims prove true. In fact it is not Polygamy specifically I support but rather Polyamory. Lets start with a definition of the terms associated with polygamy:

Polygamy: the desire, practice, or acceptance of a man having more than one loving female partner

Polyandry: the desire, practice, or acceptance of a woman having more than one loving male partner

Polyamory: the desire, practice, or acceptance of having more than one loving partner

Thus I am in favor of allowing a person (male or female) to have more then one spouse (male or female) so long as all parties are consenting adults. As with my support of Same Sex Marriage, no church should be forced to recognize such a union, but should a church choose to recognize such a union then the government should not have the right to step in and say the union is invalid.

In short I feel that the government has no right to determine who should be deemed a married person and who should not. The government should completely get rid of the state sanctioned marriage business and allow the churches and other organizations to manage it. There is no logical reasons for a state run marriage business, and that is all it is a state run business.

In the case of the Texas group we are not just talking polygamy as the issue, but statutory rape. Not all the women involved were consenting adults, and in those cases the government should certainly step in and rescue the women involved. If, upon reaching the age of consent, the women choose to return then that is their business, not the governments.

Gambling

Gambling is a hot topic in the US, if not here in Canada, with the US getting tougher on online gambling. Here in Ontario charity casinos are going up in every town with more then 12 people it seems. Is this a good thing for Canada’s citizens? It depends on who you talk to, some say yes it is bringing tourists, others say no it encourages gambling addiction.

Does having casinos encourage gambling addicts, of course it does, just as having bars encourages alcoholics. Does this mean that we should ban casinos? No, no more then we should ban bars. Now I know that gambling addicts sometimes hurt their family due to the addiction, but it is no different then any other addiction. Gambling addiction is a serious thing, and should be dealt with, but why stop non-addicts from enjoying some time at a casino just because of a few bad apples.

Casinos can be beneficial. There can be no argument that they turn a profit, that they put money into the economy, and that the charity ones raise money for charities. As for gambling addicts, well obviously something must be done, the best way is to educate and rehabilitate. One possible means of minimize gambling addiction is to ensure that there are no bank machines in Casinos and ensure that gamblers do not spend more then what they intended to upon entering a Casino.

Prostitution

The anti-prostitution laws are one of many I consider to be a law based on morality alone that needs to be abolished. Laws prohibiting prostitution encourage all the negative aspects of prostitution such as abuse by customers, women being forced into prostitution, and much more. I think every feminist should be for legal prostitution. If prostitution were legalized and regulated crime would decrease, and prostitutes could work in a safer environment. Let’s face it the laws prohibiting prostitution have done nothing to slow down the sex trade, and there is nothing inherently wrong with prostitution except on a morality standpoint.

Under the current laws what can a prostitute do if their customer, or their pimp abuses them? If they go to the police they are charged with prostitution, if they take matters into their own hands they run the risk of an assault charge and a prostitution charge. And what about a “John”, if he or she is robbed or assaulted by a prostitute or someone posing as a prostitute, they have no repercussions either. A law allowing prostitution and regulating prostitutes would make the industry much safer.

The only non-moral issue around the prostitution laws, the most commonly cited one supporting keeping prostitution illegal, is sexually transmitted diseases. Both Nevada and the Netherlands have legalized and regulated prostitution, and in both places STD rates among prostitutes are incredibly low. If you issue prostitutes licenses and force them to use condoms or lose their license they will most likely comply, especially if you offer them free or extremely discounted rates for condoms.

Besides all of these reasons there is another less obvious reason to legalize prostitution. We already allow people to have sex in exchange for money on a small scale, the pornography industry. The only difference between porn actors and prostitutes all parties are being paid for sex, not just one.

How would it actually work?

A prostitute would have to apply for a license to prostitute. A full medical checkup would have to be done and if the applicant were free of STD’s then a license would be provided at a fee, high enough to make it worthwhile. If a brothel wishes to apply for a site license that could be allowed as well as long as all girls are certified and licensed, perhaps offering a lower priced license for brothel workers. All customers would have to pay regular sales tax plus a luxury tax in addition to the prostitute’s fees. This luxury tax could go immediately into the health care system allowing the sex industry to pay for the additional expense on the health care industry. Also all prostitutes would be contributing income tax on the amount they earn bringing in even more funds.

Legalizing prostitution is not only logical from an amoralist standpoint but also from an economic one.