I think of the many times we hear of drugs, alcohol and pornography being associated with crimes, everything from the soldier in Afghanistan who murdered the civilians having been "on" alcohol to Josh Powell having been involved in pornography.
Time after time after time, of late, I've noticed so many of the news stories about crime have had connections to drugs, alcohol and porn, so often that, yes, I do wonder if crime would drop if only we could eliminate such things as drug and alcohol abuse, and pornography.
Or, at least curb them, turn them back.
Yes, there are those who say you cannot legislate morality, and there are others who say you shouldn't, that in doing so, you deprive people of agency.
I will say this: If you do offer legislation against things immoral, it can have a positive impact, and it does. If houses of prostitution were legal, they would be out in the open, on the corner. Yes, more people would participate if they were driving past them daily. If legal, prostitition would be advertised, and the only reason companies advertise is that advertisements work. They do bring in more business.
If you legalized drugs, they would be sold on the corner, just as prostitution would if it were legalized. If nudity were legal, we would have people running around naked.
No, those are not things I want. I do not want them out in the open. Yes, criminalizing them does have an affect. You can, to an extent, legislate morality.
And, for all laws this country has, mankind in America has not lost its agency. While many drugs are illegal, and prostitution, and gambling, and even some pornography, people still participate in them. Their agency is not lost.
But if we refuse to fight against these things, the war against them will be lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment