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Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

nytimes.com

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Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#251

Post by jfengel »

neurobashing wrote: post #206
overcast wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, what is your use case for paying for sex? Married? High powered executive? I can't imagine paying for something that is easily free on a million different dating apps.

Tinder (and presumably, dating apps in general) are in reality likely horrible for actually meeting people [1] [2]. [1] https://theoutline.com/post/3402/tinder-is-not-actually-for-... [2] https://theoutline.com/post/3711/the-tinder-struggle-visuali...

In my experience, I had better luck than he did, though not by orders of magnitude. 3,000 swipes per date seems high. I'd guess it's closer to 1,000.

But he makes it sound like deathly drudgery, and I think that's missing the point. It's "gamified" to give you bits of positive feedback. Matching feels good, like a little compliment. One doesn't have to enjoy that; not every game is for everybody.

And the process itself should be interesting: the swiping process is a lot of momentary life stories. A picture really is a thousand words. If you're not interested in it, then the app isn't for you, but it is for some people.

So I suspect "horrible" is in the eye of the beholder. Yeah, I invested a fair bit of time per date, but it was reasonably rewarding time. I met a lot of great people, including some relationships that lasted years.

The main lesson I wish I'd knew going in: the population is densest in cities. It's less effective in the burbs. Duh, of course, but I spent a lot more time traveling into the city than I'd bargained for. That's the only time I really regret about it.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#252

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #151
wallace_f wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm always puzzled by all the Americans who travel to Asia for all the local markets: everything from food, to personal care, to sex markets, to even medical care. My dental care in Taiwan has been extraordinarily cheap and very good. And yet then I come back to America and see the same people ostensibly support the same authoritarian politicians, police and bureaucrats who spend taxpayer money on authoritarian polic…

Americans are not good at taking care of each other, in my American opinion. We don't naturally think about what would be good for everyone, and so we don't push for changes that would benefit us all in the long term, but costs us all in the short term.

I'd say it slightly differently: Americans hate other Americans. We will gladly pay $10 to prevent $1 from going to someone else. We think of each other as competition first and foremost.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#253

Post by commandlinefan »

codingdave wrote: post #216
abstractbarista wrote: post #182

Its so simple for me. Just like with weed.... Legalize it! Why are we concerning ourselves with how people pleasure themselves in private? It's disgusting. Of course, have law enforcement root out the kiddie stuff, and have a legal framework to ensure safety (STI testing, etc) but my goodness, the efforts we currently go through to catch consenting adults in mutual benefit...

Sex trafficking is not consenting adults. There is a significant difference between a sex worker who voluntarily engages in their profession vs. people who are forced into it.

There's also a significant difference between a grocery store worker or a maid who voluntarily engages in their profession vs. people who are forced into it. That's why forced labor (slavery) is illegal and you go to jail for engaging in it.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#254

Post by Mirioron »

narag wrote: post #232
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to be a universal phenomenon (I see similar trends in many European countries, including mine) and I wouldn't use the word "played". The left seems to be as keen on legislating morality as the right.

Right/left axis is becoming useless, except as a branding system. It's much more useful to find out if someone is outcome/negotiation oriented vs. thinks in absolutes.

While I think that your distinction is interesting, I find that even people who say they are absolutists are willing to negotiate based on some criteria.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#255

Post by bitwize »

codingdave wrote: post #216
abstractbarista wrote: post #182

Its so simple for me. Just like with weed.... Legalize it! Why are we concerning ourselves with how people pleasure themselves in private? It's disgusting. Of course, have law enforcement root out the kiddie stuff, and have a legal framework to ensure safety (STI testing, etc) but my goodness, the efforts we currently go through to catch consenting adults in mutual benefit...

Sex trafficking is not consenting adults. There is a significant difference between a sex worker who voluntarily engages in their profession vs. people who are forced into it.

The FBI treats all prostitution as trafficking. If it crosses state lines, they will get involved and treat it as a trafficking case, irrespective of consent or adulthood of the parties involved.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#256

Post by bagacrap »

crazygringo wrote: post #239
overcast wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, what is your use case for paying for sex? Married? High powered executive? I can't imagine paying for something that is easily free on a million different dating apps.

I'm not defending it, but just to educate you: "easily free" is as far from the truth as it could be. The reality is: Spend hours picking photos and putting together a profile. Now for each person you have sex with, imagine you spent another 5 hours swiping, yet another 5 hours getting maybe 20 conversations going, which turn into 5 actual first dates (budget 5 hours each for prep, transportation, cancelling and resc…

Have you ever tried being really really ridiculously good looking?

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#257

Post by commandlinefan »

jandrese wrote: post #176
overcast wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, what is your use case for paying for sex? Married? High powered executive? I can't imagine paying for something that is easily free on a million different dating apps.

Not to be too mean here, but perhaps the OP doesn't have an easy time finding willing partners in the traditional dating scene. Maybe they have the kind of look that makes women swipe left.

> the kind of look that makes women swipe left.

I'm too old for dating apps, so I've never used one, but don't nearly all women swipe left (that is, reject) something like 80-85% of men on these apps?

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#258

Post by nsxwolf »

shams93 wrote: post #223
codingdave wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sex trafficking is not consenting adults. There is a significant difference between a sex worker who voluntarily engages in their profession vs. people who are forced into it.

If you legalize it you can arrest the human traffickers while enabling professional sex workers to be professionals just look at the enlightened approach to the problem taken by Australia. No brothels allowed and no pimps but independent sex work is legal.

I used to live next door to a brothel in Sydney.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#259

Post by Shivetya »

codingdave wrote: post #216
abstractbarista wrote: post #182

Its so simple for me. Just like with weed.... Legalize it! Why are we concerning ourselves with how people pleasure themselves in private? It's disgusting. Of course, have law enforcement root out the kiddie stuff, and have a legal framework to ensure safety (STI testing, etc) but my goodness, the efforts we currently go through to catch consenting adults in mutual benefit...

Sex trafficking is not consenting adults. There is a significant difference between a sex worker who voluntarily engages in their profession vs. people who are forced into it.

if you can legalize adult sex work there stands a good chance the trafficking side would decrease as there would be a legal outlet.

Re: Stamping Out Online Sex Trafficking May Have Pushed It Underground

#260

Post by galangalalgol »

narag wrote: post #232
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to be a universal phenomenon (I see similar trends in many European countries, including mine) and I wouldn't use the word "played". The left seems to be as keen on legislating morality as the right.

Right/left axis is becoming useless, except as a branding system. It's much more useful to find out if someone is outcome/negotiation oriented vs. thinks in absolutes.

That is super interesting! I recognize I tend to think in absolutes an try to adjust for it. I also am tempted by elegant solutions over practical ones. I get stuck on consistency as a value. Not that consistency or elegance are bad, if they work.

I'll add that Haidt's analysis that the value placed on compassion relative to loyalty or fairness is a good predictor of party rings true. Compassion > fairness -> democrat Compassion = fairness -> republican Compassion libertarian

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