Hooker Flashback

A 1977 Atlantic article makes the case for decriminalizing prostitution. At the time, the authors were optimistic:

To propose that our government stop making war on prostitution may seem quixotic. But American attitudes toward sex have been changing rapidly. The notion of a young couple openly living together or college clinics routinely providing birth-control devices would have been as shocking to most Americans a generation ago as toleration or regulation of prostitution is today. Furthermore, legislatures and the public in some states have begun to recognize how costly it is to use criminal sanctions against consensual behavior—evidenced by softening or removal of criminal penalties for public drunkenness, smoking marijuana, gambling, and abortions.

Worked out for the abortions (until John McCain gets to appoint John Paul Stevens' replacement at least) and to some extent gambling, but not so much on the pot and hookers.

Comments

So is the way to prove your young Turk liberal iconoclasm now to assume that McCain wins?

Posted by Freddie | March 12, 2008 1:50 PM

No, Freddie, he's using his awesome X-man antipredictive mutant power ...

Posted by guyx | March 12, 2008 1:52 PM

Once there are major corporations giving politicians big donations off of their prostitution profits (like they do for gambling), then prostitution will be made legal.

Posted by Dennis_D | March 12, 2008 1:58 PM

1) I suspect prostitution --legal or illegal -- will make a big comeback as the US economy collapses under George W Bush's mismanagement:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amCKjxCgFR7o&refer=worldwide

Women have to feed their children somehow. Just go to Moscow and look around.

2) Word on the street is that banking CEOs are already giving blow jobs to foreign investors in hopes of a bailout.

Posted by Don Williams | March 12, 2008 1:58 PM

It's sad to see how far we've fallen back ever since Reagan and his stupid moral (minority) took over the country.

Posted by STC | March 12, 2008 2:01 PM

And in 1977 they probably thought we would have flying cars by now.

Posted by blah | March 12, 2008 2:02 PM

Oh I loved the 70s. I was twenty years old in 1977 and thought the steady progress of civilization would continue forever. Then that idiot Reagan came along and made barbarism popular here. Obama will surely help, but it will be too little too late for me. I will emigrate before I turn sixty.

Posted by Gary Sugar | March 12, 2008 2:10 PM

Good post re decriminalization. It should be noted that Spitzer, however, was one of the politicians who was actively taking the law in the wrong direction. He pushed through a law just last year that increased the penalty for patronizing a prostitute to up to a year in jail, from a maximum of three months. So, as we've said before, it's hard to feel sympathy for Spitzer even is you do think prostitution should be legal.

Posted by Al | March 12, 2008 2:13 PM

Actually haven't pot laws gotten somewhat looser since the '70s? You have a number of municipalities where smoking weed gets you a non-criminal fine. You have "medical marijuana" in several states.

Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot | March 12, 2008 2:13 PM

1) Maybe Matthew could talk with Brad Delong or some others and give us some info on (a)how do you recognize that a Depression is coming (e.g., situations in which the Fed becomes powerless to influence events like concurrent currency crisis with a recession) (b) What's the best thing to do in such a case

2) The Spitzer affair shows the danger of banking surveillance for the average citizen. Spitzer withdrew only a tiny part of his assets in cash--yet became the focus of a FBI/IRS investigation. What if he withdrew his money just to buy gold?

3) Come to think of it, who the fuck gave the government the power to track our assets, our transactions and to control what we do with the MONEY WE OWN? To turn our own goddamm banks into snitches?

Posted by Don Williams | March 12, 2008 2:16 PM

prostitution = paying someone to have sex with
pornography = paying someone to record having sex with

One is legal, the other is not. Can someone reconcile this?

Posted by Joe C | March 12, 2008 2:16 PM

"Actually haven't pot laws gotten somewhat looser since the '70s?"

In Illinois in the 70's, pot possession was a $15 misdemeanor.

Posted by Gary Sugar | March 12, 2008 2:22 PM

I'm cool with the legalization of drugs, prostitution, and gambling, but the problem with abortion is that it involves a party that has no consent to give, and if it were to have consent, would presumably be opposed.

Posted by Adam Villani | March 12, 2008 2:32 PM

So, yeah, it's technically still illegal, but "escorts" advertise in my newspaper & yellow pages for goodness sake. It's pretty darn near decriminalized.

Posted by Stinky McGee | March 12, 2008 2:45 PM