Of neo-liberalism and porn

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Sometimes I wonder why the porn industry is as big as it is. I also wonder why it just keeps getting bigger every year. If I Google the word “porn” I get 160,300,000 hits, if I Google “Iceland” I get 60,000,900 hits and if I Google myself I get a disappointing 47 hits.
So, according to statistics, we have 534 porn related websites for every Icelander. If every Icelander would search for a new porn site every day for 17 months we would cover most of the porn websites, at least the ones that exist today, on the net. Those calculations may seem dumb but I have a good reason for them: Iceland has an upcoming date with the porn industry on March 7 to 11.
That event is called “SnowGathering,” an annual conference for companies which produce web-porn. According to neo-liberalism in the name of Milton Friedman this is a happy event for Iceland.
A bunch of foreigners are coming to Iceland with their pockets full of capital which they will spend during their days in Iceland, so inevitably the Icelandic economy will benefit from this visit. Porn does not harm anyone and although the morality of porn may be questionable, everyone has the freedom to choose whether to watch/sell//buy/produce porn or not.
There have been a lot of debates about this upcoming event in Iceland lately. The debates even reached Althingi (our parliament). One of the members of Althingi asked our Prime Minister, Geir H. Haarde, if he thought is was okay for the SnowGathering conference to be hosted here.
Haarde, true to his neo-liberal view, said if they are not breaking any laws and are not showing any will to do so, the government couldn’t do anything to stop them. So it didn’t matter if he or any other member of Althingi is for or against porn. The web-porn industry has every right to host their conference wherever they want.
Or do they?
Neo-liberalism and its freedom is a nice theory. But like every other utopian theory it just doesn’t work in human society. Communism is a nice theory too, but it didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to.
The existence for the fast-growing porn industry lies in neo-liberalism. As long as there is a demand for porn on the market, porn will be on the market. The laws of the market are like the laws of nature for those who believe in neo-liberalism.
The thing is, porn is by no means harmless. Its side affects are well-known. Prostitution, slavery and child abuse are the best examples. And drugs often follow the porn industry as well.
Therefore I believe there is a good reason for the government of Iceland to put a stop to the SnowGathering conference in March. The Icelandic government has often used its power when it comes to deciding who should be allowed to cross our sacred borders.
Every time a motorcycle club tries to visit Iceland they seem to be immediately linked with Banditos or Hells Angels and are kindly asked to take the next plane home and never return. So why can’t we turn those porn-aficionados away?
Because our nice government is so true to the neo-liberal theory. If it pays well and seems not to incur harm, it is a-okay. The hardcore neo-liberalists are now accusing the left-arm of the parliament of destroying a brand new opportunity for future business.
To me, this is not a matter of right or left politics, this is a matter of human rights. I know that our government will not stop the SnowGathering conference from being held here but believe me, they won’t get a warm welcome.

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