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From: janw@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Commission on Pornograp
Message-ID: <117200101@inmet>
Date: Sat, 20-Sep-86 14:45:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: inmet.117200101
Posted: Sat Sep 20 14:45:00 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 11-Oct-86 07:22:02 EDT
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Nf-From: inmet.UUCP!janw    Sep 20 14:45:00 1986


[mat@mtx5a.UUCP ]
[Tim Sevener]
>> AH! Now we have gotten to the *crux* of the matter:
>>                     sexual arousal
>> 
>> Nothing here about rape, nothing here about violence, nothing here
>> about unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, nope
>> just plain sexual arousal.
>> ...
>> Let's ban *anything* which may lead people to that awful, disgusting
>> *sinful* pleasure of *SEXUAL AROUSAL*!!
>>...
>> Amidst all the noise about rape, violence, etc, you have finally stated
>> the true desire of the Meese Commission and the right-wing fascists
>> trying to take away our rights to private pleasures.  Their desire

A good point, though it's weakened by strong language. Puritanism
isn't fascism, even though Tim (and I) may object to both.

>Or, rather, the question of whether turning sexual arousal into a
>commodity  to  be  traded  at the price the market will bear, and
>provided with all the moral integrity of Big Business, is causing
>harm, doing good, or being indifferent.

And what, pray, is the moral integrity of Big Business?  And what
about selling Coca-Cola (turning caffeine-induced euphoria into a
commodity etc.). Is it "causing harm, doing good or being  indif-
ferent"? Why not leave that determination to buyers and sellers ?
Beware, Mark, lest some day some commission determines that "opi-
um for the masses" is doing more harm than good.

You may find the cult of Priapus abominable  and  harmful  -  but
Oleg  Kiselev  tends  to  think  the  same of the worship of the
Crucified. Tolerate to be tolerated.

>How much is it worth to you to have a camera in your bedroom so we can film
>what you do and publish it?  Ten thousand, hundred thousand?  How about a
>million?

>Oops, you're about to be undersold by a couple of starving kids in the ghetto
>who'll do it for a hundred-and-fifty.

Assuming you mean young adults - are you knocking the merchandise
or the price? 

>Sexual arousal is a means by which people may be manipulated.  
>A woman known as CYNTHIA got intelligence information [in bed].
[...]

That may argue against sexual arousal as such but not against its
commercialisation. Spies get secrets from their lovers
more easily than from sexual customers. And pornography
is in direct competition with people like Cynthia.

Even more important is extracting secrets through blackmail;
the more puritanism, the more chance of that. If a nude photo
can ruin a career, then it's a powerful weapon in hostile hands.

		Jan Wasilewsky