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January 30, 2005

PLANET MORONIA: Boxcars of the Soul

The German government is actually forcing unemployed women to become prostitutes – or face punishment

 

 

 

-Martin Kite-Powell

 

What might Goethe say today, I suppose? Perhaps "A judge who cannot punish, in the end associates himself with the criminal."

 

Germany’s answer for ending slavery: legalize it and force everyone to be involved.

 

Germany has some of the toughest laws when it comes to requiring companies to hire someone new on a regular basis and requiring those on unemployment to take the first-available offer when it’s made or face official penalties. Since Germany followed the Netherlands in legalizing prostitution however, the sex industry has been considered just another potential employer –and there are no exemptions for those offered a job in it.

 

There are no known exemptions for conscientious objectors, such as those holding deep religious convictions against such behavior, either.

 

Many may recall the book Les Misérables by Victor Hugo in which a young and an unemployed Fantine was forced into Parisian prostitution servitude for her baby’s and her very survival.

 

According to WorldNet Daily, women who qualify as prostitutes in Germany (those under 55, for example) and refuse the position face the cancellation of their unemployment benefits. Brothels are said to be using this to threaten prospective employees which they select through a database provided to all employers by the government.

 

The law also does not similarly apply to unemployed men.

 

Brothels too, who fail to hire face government sanctions:

 

Last year, the German federal government announced that it would be fining employers that failed to hire trainees – a measure to be applied to brothels as well as other employers. Brothels failing to hire one apprentice for every 15 employees will be fined for failing to promote the sex industry.

 

Germany legalized prostitution in 2002 in the belief it would slow down the trafficking in women and reduce the role of organized crime in the profession. Instead, government is expanding the sex industry by guaranteeing a steady stream of new recruits, some willing and some not.

 

 

Instead, the German government, sounding more like Beijing in its use of human slavery, now profits from this chattelization of women who risk losing their homes and starving if they do not make their own bodies available to the highest bidder.

 

Without regard for the human rights of its citizens, Germany has again taken a dark foray into the netherworld of the cruelest of labor camps – a slavery that shackles the mind and spirit as much as it degrades the body. This is both sick and sad and puts Germany on a par with Thailand, Nepal, the Netherlands and other countries that wink at the sexual exploitation of women.

 

Perhaps it’s time once again that Germany read Faust.

 

 

 

 

Posted by Martin at January 30, 2005 09:51 AM

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