Satire not too far off center

Required reading for this blog post:

An Immodest Proposal: Time for a sex tax

After you've read that come back. It's your homework! hee hee.

While I understand the irony and amusement of this work of satire, I don't think it's a too far fetched idea to tax industries, such as the 'adult entertainment' industry that do nothing for the economy besides indulge our pleasure oriented natures only. The New York Times this morning had many a tale of large financial institutions collapsing or on the brink of collapse with a government unwilling because they are unable to bail out these institutions. Yet if internet content is any indication of a thriving industry then the porn industry is raking it in. This industry brings no tradable goods to the market (unless you consider the human body a tradable commodity - which I and millions of others do not), and so creates a drain in the economy.
Here are a few examples:

• Power stations can't build up to full power as men (and women) stay up all night running their computers and downloading images and video
• Spouses lie in bed for hours waiting for the distracted spouse to come to bed, creating a rift between couples, leading to problems in the marriage and eventually divorce
• Hours wasted in unproductive activity that neither adds to the economy or adds to the true enjoyment of the participant as it only serves to create a need for further activity, not an actual satiating effect.

A universal drain on the economy. So why not tax that! Think about it. We already have luxury tax. Doesn't this fall into that category?

The rest of the things they could tax would be too controversial to ever be passed through in a vote, however much I might agree with them. The Geek says I'm losing my sense of humor (and short term memory) as I embark on the last stage of pregnancy, and perhaps that is true. Even this blog post is not funny. sigh.