| T.Rexington said: Yeah, let's shut down an entire industry that helped put the VHS on the map! That'll help strengthen the economy! |
That view is far too simplistic. It's actually quite possible that it could strengthen our economy. It could also weaken it temporarily and then strengthen it in the future.
1. People waste time watching porn in the workplace. Reducing that could create an immediate benefit for American businesses.
2. Just because people spend less money on porn doesn't mean they'll spend less money. Redistribution of spending could actually help American business, especially since foreign companies make up a significant portion of the porn industry. The net effect might be that more American dollars go to American businesses.
3. As the original article states, porn IS proven to destroy families. Some time ago it past up financial difficulties as the number one factor mentioned among reasons leading to divorce. Children from broken families are statistically much more likely to get involved with smoking, alcohol and drugs, and they generally have less successful careers. They're also more likely to create broken families of their own. In no uncertain terms, a high divorce rate hurts our economy and our people, so any factor that contributes so strongly to divorce can fairly be said to hurt our country, including the economy.
We would be smart to be cautious about letting porn use go unchecked. It's easy to overlook the fact that pornography use as it exists today is a recent development. As little as 10 years ago, the use was far less widespread. That means that we essentially don't have a complete picture of the damage it can cause to a society over 30, 50 or 100 years. What little we do know isn't promising for our future stability.
This said, one truth seems apparent. People have never been good at choosing what's best for them over what they want. Even though abandoning porn would benefit our society, few people will make that choice for themselves. And as popular as porn is now, the likelihood that a government which is owned by the people can take an action - even one that's for the best - without the wishes of the people behind it, is very remote. The only chance is for people to suddenly get both smart and unselfish. I don't see it happening.
