This is not a long post, but some will be too lazy to read it all. Fair enough. However, I do urge you to read this if you think the manga-owning man got what he deserved. Please, read it all. It won't take long. Think about it.
Anyway, to my post: The US, like any country, does a lot right and a lot wrong. One of their biggest 'rights' is the First Amendment and its wide reaching implications. Freedom of speech is a constitutional right in the US, and long may that be the case.
If you, like I, think freedom of speech is important, then you will have to look at cases like this and accept that you must -- absolutely, must! -- defend the right of others to read, write, and speak on topics you fine unacceptable. It's either that or throw freedom of speech out the window, because clearly you care nothing for it.
Take a moment to think on that. Do you really want to discard freedom of speech? Do you really want the government to tell you what you can or cannot read, watch, or even think?
Lolicon porn is near the top of a slope that the First Amendment fences off. But, without that fence, watch your right to consider and explore many subjects disappear. Just focussing on the 'pre-18 sexuality' angle: outlawing lolicon manga and the South Park imagery, as shown above, would just be the beginning. Next, works of art such as 'Lolita' would be removed. As would publications such as 'Lost Girls', and 'The Game of Thrones'. Not long after, outlawing any work making an attempt to realistically view pre-18 sexuality would go. Trust me when I say that would include a lot of movies and music videos that you have almost certainly all watched. The law is not a pair of clippers ready to carefully cut off the over-long lolicon toenails of evil, it's a pair of shears that would cut of arms, legs, and heads. Dividing lines, unfortunately, are very hard to define, and such a change in the law would be heavily used by extremists of all kinds to ban all manner of artistic expression. Including porn.
I think freedom of speech is bloody important, and I'm not alone.
For an example of why we should be careful here, go read a professional in the publishing industry, and his opinions, and have a good think. Here's a link to Neil Gaiman's blog post on this very subject, an author many of you will be aware from such works as the Sandman comics, Stardust (the movie), Coraline, or American Gods.
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/12/why-defend-freedom-of-icky-speech.html
