Marijuana, Sex work, Social libertarianism in Marxist State?

generally socially libertarian ideas - could these be squeezed into the 'Marxist State'

how about the smoking of mary jane, sex work such as stripping, porn or consensual sexual activity, and how about gambling etc..?

Should it be allowed?

Dictator77 wrote:

mary jane,

Prohibition isn't really worth the resources it requires to maintain.

Dictator77 wrote:

sex work

This is a can of worms.

Dictator77 wrote:

such as stripping, porn or consensual sexual activity,

Probably. Shit has been around since forever.

Dictator77 wrote:

and how about gambling etc..?

I don't know. I hope not.

Dictator77 wrote:

Should it be allowed?

The conditions of the time determine the answers to these questions.

I'd think (organized, commercial) "gambling" is the only one there that a Marxist would be very hard-pressed to defend. Since that inherently runs on exploitation, games designed to give the casino an advantage at the player's expense. And getting people wasted in the process so they make dumb decisions, while encouraging them to stay up all night spending as much money as possible. Poker games amongst friends might easily exist, casinos would probably be banned though.

The rest could easily exist in a Marxist state, and probably would in some form.

Masturbation is a bourgeois distraction, so porn would not exist in socialism.

I've always liked the idea of restricting vice to secluded areas and cities; like in America, China and Russia where gambling (prostitution is some cases) is legal only in a few special regions/states/cities. I'd prefer that all of the above with the exception to pornography of-course be isolated to special pleasure zones if you will, where the consumption of not only cannabis but hard drugs like cocaine, MDMA, and heroin would also be legal albeit with very tight control and regulations that would prohibit people from getting high outside of well monitored environments in order to prevent accidents and overdoses. I'd also support harsher laws for people who do get out of line and cause human or material damage while under the influence. Such monitoring could also be applied to prostitution through HIV/STD express test screening for both the client and sex worker; whereas time limits and pot/bet limits could be placed in the casinos to prevent people from completely losing their all.

Red light districts often lead to ghettoization though. Also tight controls are virtual prohibition and will expand the black market (and thus productive power will be bled).

MissStrangelove wrote:

I'd think (organized, commercial) "gambling" is the only one there that a Marxist would be very hard-pressed to defend. Since that inherently runs on exploitation, games designed to give the casino an advantage at the player's expense. And getting people wasted in the process so they make dumb decisions, while encouraging them to stay up all night spending as much money as possible

I was thinking more along the lines of sports betting, things like horse-racing for example.

Blood/animal sport is something I think we can all agree belongs in the dustbin of history. I'd be much more tolerant of vegas-style gambling than horse-racing.

Dagoth Ur wrote:

Blood/animal sport is something I think we can all agree belongs in the dustbin of history. I'd be much more tolerant of vegas-style gambling than horse-racing.

Agreed. Horse-racing is a brutal, entirely pointless sport. Those horses spend their whole lives beaten and shot up with ten billion different steroids, injuries barely-treated as long as they're still profitable. And when they stop being profitable, most end their lives in the slaughterhouse.

Betting on football/soccer games is something I can't see anything wrong with though. That's based on predictions, not really chance. Especially if it's small-scale and just between friends, so there's no Vegas scumbag skimming most of your earnings off the top.

It's funny that you mention that. There's a bribery scandal going on in Dutch football (soccer) right now where some players stand accused of having deliberately lost games in exchange for money from Asian betting parlours. I guess all of this would depend on the elimination of the profit motive from sports.

MissStrangelove wrote:

Agreed. Horse-racing is a brutal, entirely pointless sport. Those horses spend their whole lives beaten and shot up with ten billion different steroids, injuries barely-treated as long as they're still profitable. And when they stop being profitable, most end their lives in the slaughterhouse.

Yes the treatment of horses and greyhounds is legendarily infamous, I'm surprised to see that big race tracks like Remington still bring in so much money in our increasingly consumer-activist culture.

MissStrangelove wrote:

Betting on football/soccer games is something I can't see anything wrong with though. That's based on predictions, not really chance. Especially if it's small-scale and just between friends, so there's no Vegas scumbag skimming most of your earnings off the top.

See here I disagree. Allowing any betting on human sport motivates exactly what N14 just said, and also encourages treating human players like horses. Look at Mike Tyson.