The Criminalization of Capitalism and Human Nature

Consent Isn’t a Crime—But Religion Still Writes the Law

Let me begin by asking you a question I would like you to seriously consider, although it may at first appear to be absurd and ridiculous.

Child labor is used in farming, day after day, year after year, leading to severe adverse effects on these children’s health due to dangerous pesticides without proper protective equipment, and sometimes even death, as they operate hazardous machinery. It also prevents them from attending school, denying them the possibility of a brighter future.

Do you believe that, because of this, farming should be made illegal?

Illegal, forced labor of trafficked people is widely known to be used in the textile industry—circumstances often equivalent to modern-day slavery. This includes the frequent exploitation of children, sometimes resulting in permanent injury, deformation, or even death. Yet, would you argue that the textile industry should be abolished?

Now consider this: in China, children as young as two years old have been documented handling deadly explosives in dangerous firework factories. Fireworks are not essential. They are a rare, unnecessary commodity. If exploitation and danger to children is a reason to criminalize an industry entirely, why do we not call for the abolition of fireworks?

Yet, a frequent and almost automatic argument against sex work is that it involves underage participants or trafficked individuals. If the presence of exploitation, forced labor, and even death in other industries isn’t considered a reason to ban them outright, why is sex work treated differently?

Millions of Americans engage in sexual activity daily: marital sex, extramarital affairs, one-night stands, casual hookups, threesomes, orgies, and sex for money on camera—a.k.a. pornography. If being paid to have sex on camera for mass distribution is legal, then why is private, consensual sex work criminalized? If there were any logical foundation for the illegality of sex work, then surely pornography would be considered an even greater violation, an escalation of said crime. And yet, it is not.

For a law to be just, it must be grounded in reason. Harm must be present. Not imagined, moralized harm—but actual harm. Theft, assault, and murder are crimes because they involve clear victims and loss. Even speeding laws are based on the potential to cause real, measurable harm. So what is the inherent harm in consensual sex work?

Some argue that sex work is a crime because it involves "selling your body." But if we apply that logic consistently, we run into trouble. Models use their physical appearance for profit. Athletes and dancers use their bodies to entertain. Massage therapists and chiropractors offer touch-based, bodily labor. Yet we don’t accuse them of "selling themselves."

The truth is this: sex work is not criminalized because it is inherently harmful. It is criminalized because it challenges our discomfort with sexual autonomy, with pleasure, and with the idea that someone could profit from something society still tries to control and shame. We punish sex workers not for their actions, but for their refusal to conform to deeply rooted cultural discomforts around sex, power, and independence. In truth, we punish sex work because we are a country founded steeped in religious extremism-we were founded by Christians too extreme, even in their own time of religious intensity and fervour often bordering on insanity-and despite ou                           r claims of seperation of church and state, of being a modern, just, and reasonable society, and our condemnation of those countries in the middle east who function under Sharia law, a form of religious-based rule, we still, to this day, are fighting to pull ourselves out from under the crushing weight of 2,000 years of the subjugation of human rights to religious doctrine. From the struggle to legalize gay marriage, to women achieving the right to vote, from the civil rights movement-the Bible was even used as a tool to support and, in fact, often promote slavery-to the fight for freedom of gender expression, this country and its people must constantly remain vigilant against our own rights, personal freedoms, liberty, and equality, being overshadowed by the unfair and oppressive nature of religion-based, belief-founded laws.

Sex work reveals a cultural hypocrisy. We celebrate hustle, independence, and entrepreneurship—until those values are applied to sexual labor. We live in a capitalist society that sells everything from attention to intimacy, but draws the line at sexual pleasure. This is not a legal stance grounded in justice. It is a social and moral reaction parading as law.

It is time to dismantle the false dichotomy that separates sex work from all other forms of labor. Time to stop criminalizing pleasure, agency, and survival. In a world that commodifies nearly everything, sex work is not an exception.

It is a mirror.

And some of us are afraid of what we see in it.

Human nature is not optional—it is embedded in our DNA. Sexual desire, in particular, is not only universal but biologically essential. It is nature's built-in mechanism for ensuring the survival of our species. Unlike traits such as aggression or egotism, which often manifest destructively, sex has the potential to be deeply connective, healing, and beautiful—a physical act that bonds, soothes, and nurtures emotional intimacy.

We are told that America values capitalism, innovation, and self-made success. We celebrate small business owners, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and anyone who dares to carve out their own path. The free market is hailed as the bedrock of liberty—until that liberty involves a woman (or anyone) choosing to monetize their own body in a consensual, adult exchange. Suddenly, that same hustle becomes criminal.

And here lies perhaps the greatest hypocrisy of all. In our culture, we uphold the principle of bodily autonomy. We march under the banner of "my body, my choice" when it comes to reproductive rights—even when that choice involves terminating a potential life. Yet, astonishingly, if that same body is used for consensual sexual activity between adults—without harming anyone—it becomes a punishable offense. Not just frowned upon, but criminalized to the extent that someone can be imprisoned. This contradiction is not just illogical—it is deeply unjust.

In the end, the criminalization of sex work is not about safety, justice, or harm prevention. It is about control—over bodies, over pleasure, and over who is allowed to profit from either. It is the collision of two stigmas: one against sexual autonomy, and one against those who dare to embody capitalism on their own terms. If we are to truly champion freedom, bodily autonomy, and entrepreneurial spirit, then we must extend those values to sex workers as well. Anything less is not just hypocritical—it is oppressive. Sex work is labor. It is human. It is valid. And it deserves the dignity, protection, and legality afforded to every other form of work in our so-called free society.

In the words of the infamous founding father,Thomas Jefferson, "if a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is morally obligated to do so.

In the words of the great civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr, "One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."

One of the most famous lines from the US Constitution is the "right to...the pursuit of happiness". 

If you believe in freedom, bodily autonomy, and justice, it’s time to speak up. Support the decriminalization of sex work and challenge the outdated laws rooted in stigma and religious bias. Share this article, start conversations, and advocate for policies that respect adult consent and labor rights.

And it's time to do more than that. It's time to take action! In one of the most pleasurable acts of civil disobedience possible, get out there and see your local sex workers! Actively support them and their businesses! I promise, you will enjoy this form of political protest more than any other you have ever participated in!!!

Change begins with awareness —and awareness must lead to action. We cannot stand idly by while injustice is meted out to those who are often a part of already marginalized and vulnerable groups.

Be part of the movement to end the criminalization of human nature and capitalism alike.