March 10th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized

Amsterdam

Had a long weekend in Amsterdam last week. I spend the first day absolutely stunned at the coffee shops and red light district – it seemed so alien. I spent most of my time there wandering around the Centrum district, and was taken with how each area had its own character. The buildings are fantastic – not only the architecture, but also the wonkiness 😛

After the novelty wore off, I was left with the feeling that if British culture just calmed down a bit, we opened a few coffee shops and legalised prostitution we would spend more time addressing the more fundamental problems in our culture instead of chasing people who are doing very little wrong.

Some may disagree, citing evidence that prostitution and soft drugs are the end of civilisation. On another note, I read a short article on how lap dancing is morally wrong, and wrecks marriages. The author described herself as “intelligent, unique” and some other bullshit. My issue with said article lies with its logic. Something along the lines of – “I spoke to a lapdancer, and apparently some married man asked for her number! Shocker!”. She argued that if lapdancing clubs did not exist, the man would not have asked for her number, so they should be banned. This is fundamentalism at its finest. I bet she is a Christian. Just because she doesn’t like lapdancing clubs, and one stripper told her a story that backed up her insecurity, all lapdancing clubs should be banned. Then that unfaithful man wouldn’t have been able to find a pretty girl to have an affair with. Ludicrous, ill conceived argumentation based on opinion. It pisses me off that newspapers and TV are full of this shit, and people lap it up.

A well founded argument requires solid premises and a logical conclusion. Disliking something is no reason to ban something. Everyone has a right to an opinion, nobody has a right to push that on someone else. Anyone who comes near me with a bullshit argument with no basis gets both barrels, idiots.