Replies

[taxthedeer]

Does anybody know the status on any of these three?

[indianamaniac]

First of all, Tim, your analogy of comparing strip clubs to dealing heroin was faulty bordering on ridiculous.

You'd wish that people used their personal convictions when making financial decisions, but it's pretty obvious that the almighty dollar has come to outweigh morals in today's society whether we're in the United States or Japan. Strip clubs are not illegal and therefore are fair game for someone who wishes to use sex to earn money. Am I at all interested in patronizing a strip club? No, not really. Am I in a position to begrudge someone else the opportunity to open a business that will more than likely be profitable? No, not really.

The better analogy would have been if Smith and Wesson decided they wanted to build a gun factory in Michigan City. As someone who doesn't have a whole lot of use for guns period, I would probably feel pretty strongly that I wouldn't want them being produced in my backyard. Would I lobby against it? No. It's a business that would be pushing tax dollars into the local infrastructure.

If I had my choice on whether we had a strip club or not, my preference would be no. However, making the suggestion that a strip club would be "detrimental" to Michigan City's overall image is suggesting that we are already living in some type of Utopia.

MC Born and Raised's point that it ultimately won't affect those of us who live here is valid. We don't have to go to it, but who are we to begrudge the opportunity for someone to make money just because we're worried about what it will ultimately do to our image? I personally prefer the image of tax dollars being pumped into the system and a few jobs being created.

People like to gamble, people like to drink, people like sex. Our capitalist society has proved more than willing to throw people's convictions by the wayside in return for profits. I don't like it, but it is what it is.

[Tim]

First of all, Tim, your analogy of comparing strip clubs to dealing heroin was faulty bordering on ridiculous.

You'd wish that people used their personal convictions when making financial decisions, but it's pretty obvious that the almighty dollar has come to outweigh morals in today's society whether we're in the United States or Japan. Strip clubs are not illegal and therefore are fair game for someone who wishes to use sex to earn money. Am I at all interested in patronizing a strip club? No, not really. Am I in a position to begrudge someone else the opportunity to open a business that will more than likely be profitable? No, not really.

The better analogy would have been if Smith and Wesson decided they wanted to build a gun factory in Michigan City. As someone who doesn't have a whole lot of use for guns period, I would probably feel pretty strongly that I wouldn't want them being produced in my backyard. Would I lobby against it? No. It's a business that would be pushing tax dollars into the local infrastructure.

If I had my choice on whether we had a strip club or not, my preference would be no. However, making the suggestion that a strip club would be "detrimental" to Michigan City's overall image is suggesting that we are already living in some type of Utopia.

MC Born and Raised's point that it ultimately won't affect those of us who live here is valid. We don't have to go to it, but who are we to begrudge the opportunity for someone to make money just because we're worried about what it will ultimately do to our image? I personally prefer the image of tax dollars being pumped into the system and a few jobs being created.

People like to gamble, people like to drink, people like sex. Our capitalist society has proved more than willing to throw people's convictions by the wayside in return for profits. I don't like it, but it is what it is.

"First of all, Tim, your analogy of comparing strip clubs to dealing heroin was faulty bordering on ridiculous."

Not in the context of the argument presented.

"making the suggestion that a strip club would be "detrimental" to Michigan City's overall image is suggesting that we are already living in some type of Utopia."

No, it doesn't.

"
MC Born and Raised's point that it ultimately won't affect those of us who live here is valid."

Uh huh. So, if that's true - why all the opposition? If, as you claim, having a sleazy strip club in MC would have no effect, good or bad, why would people care?

[indianamaniac]

"First of all, Tim, your analogy of comparing strip clubs to dealing heroin was faulty bordering on ridiculous."

Not in the context of the argument presented.

"making the suggestion that a strip club would be "detrimental" to Michigan City's overall image is suggesting that we are already living in some type of Utopia."

No, it doesn't.

"
MC Born and Raised's point that it ultimately won't affect those of us who live here is valid."

Uh huh. So, if that's true - why all the opposition? If, as you claim, having a sleazy strip club in MC would have no effect, good or bad, why would people care?

Because there's quite an imbalance between morality and reality.

We're worried about kids on a school bus riding by a building with neon lights because of what is happening inside, but our society has little problem with Jersey Shore, a show that promotes drinking and promiscuity, entering our homes on television every single day.

This is real life. Whether we like it or not, it's out there. I have a 5-year-old daughter and day-after-day I try and figure out ways of explaining the world to her without blatantly coming out and saying, "You know dear, our world is f***** up. You're going to have to learn to navigate through it."

Our image is what we make of it. Right now we are a community that has many bigger issues than a strip club. If we'd rally around what we have half as much as we rally against what we don't want, maybe we'd get somewhere.

[Tim]

Because there's quite an imbalance between morality and reality.

We're worried about kids on a school bus riding by a building with neon lights because of what is happening inside, but our society has little problem with Jersey Shore, a show that promotes drinking and promiscuity, entering our homes on television every single day.

This is real life. Whether we like it or not, it's out there. I have a 5-year-old daughter and day-after-day I try and figure out ways of explaining the world to her without blatantly coming out and saying, "You know dear, our world is f***** up. You're going to have to learn to navigate through it."

Our image is what we make of it. Right now we are a community that has many bigger issues than a strip club. If we'd rally around what we have half as much as we rally against what we don't want, maybe we'd get somewhere.

While I agree there are bigger issues at hand in MC than this strip club situation I don't think that means it's not worthy of examination and debate.

That is what this is all about.

[indianamaniac]

While I agree there are bigger issues at hand in MC than this strip club situation I don't think that means it's not worthy of examination and debate.

That is what this is all about.

Okay, and MC Born and Raised made his observation, you countered with a horrible analogy and suggested that the opposition isn't relying on moral objections that society seemingly abandoned a long time ago.

We all get get. You think that that "sleaze" doesn't have a place in your original hometown despite the fact that sexually oriented businesses are nothing new to Michigan City or LaPorte County. The objections are of a moral nature and quite frankly are an example of one group of individuals telling another group of individuals that their way of viewing things is askew.

When the Founding Fathers provided for personal freedoms, including religion, they really didn't take into consideration what was going to happen when the nation became 314 million people. Personal freedoms are something that individuals are more than happy to throw out there until it doesn't suit them. The sooner we realize that people are free to engage in activities that haven't been deemed illegal, the better off we're all going to be.