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Guest Opinion: Licensatarianz

Licensatarianz – A Response To The Libertarianz On Maxim, Marx, And Prostitution
By Paul McMahon

That anyone could accuse the Maxim Institute of being Marxist is well beyond comprehension. The Maxim Institute believe that the market is an institution of civil society and in the mythological “invisible hand” for one thing, and are advocates of less government and more responsibility. The Libertarianz obviously prefer the emotive rhetoric of McCarthyism to sound argument.

Compassion: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it. The Libertarianz are sympathetic to the desire of both the women to sell and the man to buy, but seem to display no compassion whatsoever towards the physical or psychological condition that either person is in. The Libertarianz display no desire whatsoever to alleviate the suffering in any person’s life if it conflicts with their ideology. As for justice: Justice is inextricably tied with morality and ethics, of which the Libertarianz have neither.

The Libertarianz pretend to be concerned for the well being of women, but do not care that women are being treated as commodities in the prostitution industry because it is, allegedly, a choice. Freedom is not license, but liberty.

For all the arguments for prostitution made by Russell he did not counter the evidential arguments put forward by the Maxim Institute. There is no evidence to suggest that legalization of prostitution is beneficial in the long-term to the prostitutes, the purchasers, or society.

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Russell said, “That others choose the profession neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket. It doesn't violate my rights so it's none of my business, and nor is it any business of the Maxim Institute…” What Russell meant to say is “I’m alright Jack.”

“People constantly make choices that are ‘less than optimal’. In a free society that is inevitable,” says Russell. Libertarianz persistently ignore the impact our choices have on others and any element of responsibility that we may have - they have a veneer of being freedom loving, but what they truly desire is the right to do anything they want to, even if that is at the expense of everyone else.

ENDS

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