Sex Licensing - Redistributive Justice

Redistributive Justice

If you think I'm joking click here.

The distribution of sexual pleasure is unequal. The equality of opportunity that some argue exists hardly compensates for the inequality of OUTCOME or SUCCESS. Having sex appeal, good looks, a sense of humour, a 'great personality', musical talent, brains and money often give the possessor priority in mate selection over individuals not similarly endowed. In many cases, the qualities mentioned are due entirely to the luck of the draw at birth.

With the declining influence of some religions, with changing attitudes, and as the welfare state sends out the signal that having children is THE road to a comfortable middle class standard of living the old restrictions on the number of partners one has are weakened. Some people have multiple partners while others have none. How long can this manifestly unfair situation be allowed to escape official notice? It's past time for interventionist governments to take an active role in the redistribution of sex and love. A horny man is not free.

According to one page on the Sex Work Cyber Resource Support Center For Sex Workers And Customers web site, some Danish cities have moved towards sex equity by arranging for social workers to escort disabled individuals to see prostitutes. The use of public money to enable barrier free access to sexual gratification is certainly a step in the right direction.

In Maastricht, according to the same source Cecile aan de Stegge, chairwoman of the Netherlands Association of Psychiatric Nursing for patients of the Vijverdal psychiatric hospital, has made special arrangements with a local brothel to provide a hefty discount to accomodate the needs of mental patients. Thus even private industry has moved in the desired direction.

More is needed. Governments everywhere should implement various measures to ensure equality in this very important area of human life. Sex and romance are simply too important to be left to the private and personal sectors. A good start for local governments would be to ensure that there are adequate handicapped parking spots and wheelchair ramps available in districts known to be frequented by prostitutes and their clients.

Since the distribution of romantic satisfaction is unfair the government has to do something. One of the key functions of government, implicit in the overwhelming majority of discussions of government policy, is that it should make life fair.

Numerous policies are adopted with the aim of achieving fair taxation, fair employment practices, fair housing policy, fair competition, fair prices, fair trade etc. Clearly, given the importance of satisfactory romantic affairs, prevailing attitudes should lead to a willing acceptance of a much greater government presence in the romantic lives of it's citizens.

The government should set up a new ministry. In Canada they could call it "Togetherness Canada". Like some private dating services it could use computers to match up it's members. Unlike private dating services, which attempt to match up compatible couples, a procedure which relies too strongly upon the anarchy of the marketplace, Togetherness Canada would have fairness as it's prime objective although compatibility should remain a part of its mandate. Also, unlike private services, membership would be mandatory.

No government oversight or regulations exist to ensure that couples who marry or co-habit are actually compatible. The costs to society as a result of individuals making the wrong choices appear in the form of family violence and the emotional trauma suffered by children whose parents are going through expensive divorce proceedings, chasing down deadbeat ex-husbands who refuse to make support payments, psychological counseling of couples having difficulties and more.

Obviously, many of these problems result from people forming emotional relationships without really knowing or examining all of the implications.

Some deluded fools might think that individuals can make their own decisions in these matters; that freedom carries with it the possibility that the wrong choice might be made and the responsibility to accept the consequences of failure as well as the rewards of success. This might be OK in a world where everyone is omniscient but such is, of course, not the case on this planet. Clearly then, there is an important role for knowledgeable experts, chosen by politicians and endowed with special coercive powers, to ensure that no individual be permitted to make serious personal decisions without appropriate oversight.

continued...