From Dan Okrent’s recent Q&A about Prohibition: “No factor played a larger role in the repeal of Prohibition than the government’s desperate need for revenue as the country fell into the grip of the Depression.”
In short: governments who hate vice suddenly hate it much less when cash flow is slow. And we are seeing that again today.
- Congress may overturn a four-year-old ban on Internet gambling in order to tax it. (One potential conflict: most states rely on proceeds from their own lotteries, which carry a comically huge vig of at least 30%.)
- In California (and elsewhere), marijuana is becoming increasingly available, and is being taxed accordingly.
- Hard-hit local governments are loosening alcohol restrictions in airports to raise tax revenue.
And of course, prostitution taxes are being floated again. Which is the perfect analogy. The government is a crack addict hooked on Big Green, Phat Cash, Big Benjamins - and once socially acceptable mea
ns of obtaining it are insufficient for quenching the craving, all options are placed on the table.So like the nice girl turned crack whore, now debasing herself in ways never dreamed possible in the name of a quick fix, governments are about to legalize and promote behavior seen (rightfully, in many cases) as destructive for both the individual and for society at large.
The government doesn't care. It needs it's cash fix. If it means destroying itself, and the American people along with it, well...how much morality does a drug addict have, anyway?
You wonder how a person winds up filthy, huddled in an alley, eyes sunken, face dawn, teeth rotted,with a gnarled hand out? Just watch the actions of Barack Obama, and his Congress of degenerate reprobates...
And won't somebody please tell Michelle, before it is too late?
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