Political analysts since our recent election have been attributing President Bush's win to morals. Exit polls done by CNN show that 22 percent of voters were concerned primarily with moral issues, and this was the topic on which most voters found themselves basing their choice.
While it would be easy to lambast the Bush administration for their questionable moral values, it is more important now to focus on issues. Furthermore, while it would be easy to raise a highly volatile issue like abortion or same-sex marriage, it is important to bring to light an issue that is reflective of the attitude toward morals and laws we hold as Americans today.
In order to look at the moral fiber of the American public in relation to law, we can take a subject like prostitution and apply it to American morals at large. The idea of consensual sex for a fee has essentially taken a back seat in today's political arena. Indeed, many people's preconceived notions of prostitution almost stop a discussion of decriminalization before it begins. The most notable objections that are ever raised are usually related to public safety.
These objections are groundless when we look at the facts. Nevada, home to the only counties with legalized prostitution in the United States, has one of the lowest percentages of STDs, abuse and drug use among prostitutes in America.
Prostitutes on the whole in America are said to contribute to 3 to 5 percent of the spread of STDs, whereas the teen population contributes to 25 to 35 percent. If we have objections about public safety, we should be outlawing teen sex, not prostitution.
Economically, prostitution has given a large boost to Nevada commerce, and if decriminalized nationally, it would only serve to help the economy. When prostitution becomes a business like anything else it becomes taxable income. With over an estimated 1 million prostitutes in America currently, that could be a considerable boost in closing out budget deficit. Even objections calling prostitution a source of degradation of women are baseless; as much as 20 to 30 percent of the prostitute population is male.
It is clear that there are no real objections to prostitution outside of moral ones. The fact that individuals have moral objections to prostitution, though, is not a valid reason for keeping it illegal.
America was founded on the notion that the government had no right to interfere in the personal lives of its citizens, be it in their choice of what church to attend, or whom to have sex with and under which circumstances. In fact, the precedent for prohibiting prostitution is somewhat contradictory in and of itself.
Sex between consenting adults is legal. Selling and trading things is legal. Why aren't the two when put together also legal? The government seems to object to prostitution simply because it thinks it is "bad," but since when did the government become the authority on right and wrong?
Prostitution is simply indicative of the larger problem in America: legislated morality. The government was not created to tell us what is right and wrong, the government was created to protect its citizens from force and coercion. The government should not be telling us who is right or wrong to have sex with and for what reasons. The government shouldn't even be telling us what right and wrong is in the first place.
America was founded on freedom and liberty. Let's not allow the big government to run our lives for us.
Robert Cowan is a junior at Gonzaga
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