Quote:
Originally Posted by carld
I'm in Ohio. I can drive a few miles and buy all the naughty books, DVDs, and assorted accessories I can carry home. Pornography is not illegal. Where do you live that it's illegal to do the same?
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Texas, maybe? I believe I recall reading that toys were illegal there. Um, "those" toys, I mean.
Aside from a few places, pornography is widely available, at least if you know where to look. Near truck stops and major highway off-ramps would be a good bet -- just look for the stores with the whited-out windows and the big sign saying "Adult Store". I haven't been in Cambridge in a long time, but there used to be a very comprehensive toy store in the Parking Garage (a shopping complex converted from a former garage, for those who're scratching their heads). They even had classes. In terms of printed matter, it ranges from plain brown wrappers to anything goes. I haven't been to a computer show in ages (why bother, when you can get parts from NewEgg in a day or two instead of waiting a week or a month for a nearby show?) but there used to be tables with bins full of X-rated (add as many X's as you like) DVDs for sale, if that's your thing.
Thankfully, while some segments of the US population
want to be homegrown Taliban, they haven't succeeded as well as they've hoped. The only reason they haven't is the outspokenness of other people who are vigilant for this sort of thing, and that must be continued.
And ardeegee's right. There are a disturbing number of totally, utterly, absolutely ignorant people around. What's so bad isn't that they're ignorant in the first place --after all,
everyone is ignorant when it comes to something or other -- but that they're proud of being ignorant and want to stay that way. That's just scary.
The right to please the majority needs no protection; it's the right to be
different that must be defended at all costs. Anyone who has the power -- or the willingness, in this case -- to keep other people from buying things you don't want to read has the power to keep you from buying things other people don't want to read.
And we, as buyers, have not only the right but the obligation to spend our money with companies that do things we consider to be positive, not negative, and to tell them -- and tell other people -- why we're doing it.