NYTimes Opinion: Let’s Ban Porn

Porn is an outlet for many people who have trouble finding as much sex as they want. Or can't get.

If we deprive these people of porn, we are essentially depriving people who are underprivileged (unable to get as much sex as they want, regardless of the reason).

The privileged few who are attractive enough to have frequent sex will be able to do so while the underprivileged will be deprived of a sexual outlet.

Sexual frustration can be terrible, and depriving people of porn could lead to a building of tremendous tension in society.

If we're being realistic, this would probably drive up demand for prostitutes, which is an industry that thrives on human trafficking and enslavement. So getting rid of porn would increase human trafficking and enslavement of people.

So many lines of argument that lead to the conclusion that porn is a net good for society....

Banning anything without changing society's view of the subject never works. The grand example is Prohibition. A very influential group of people were able to ban the manufacturing of liquor by adding the 18th amendment to the constitution, something that's extremely hard. Yet instead of stopping the use of it, it brought it underground and a whole criminal industry was born since there was a big section of society that didn't agree with the ban.

If there's to be any change in the production of porn, minds need to be changed first. This can be done primarily with education and the help of the porn industry to police itself. Banning does nothing, it just makes people feel like they have accomplished something but ultimately it makes the problem worse since it festers in the dark corners of society. There are no simple answers to problems where people have a natural interest.

Interesting article I found especially after this was posted recently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16324159