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After bailing out the banks and the “big 3″ automakers, the American government is being asked to bail out another industry. Two of the most recognizable figures in the porn industry are speaking out.

The economy has taken a huge down ward slide in the last several months.  Apparently, so has the world’s sex drive if you listen to Joe Francis (”Girls Gone Wild”) and Larry Flynt (”Hustler”).  They actually have the nerve to ask the government for a $5 billion bailout!

I agree that the porn industry is, unfortunately, one of the larger industries worldwide as anyone online can attest to.  But do they really “deserve” the same sorts of economic recovery plans that more traditional industries got?  If you put the morality issues aside and try to look at it non-judgementally, maybe they in fact do.  The sex industry generates huge amounts of money each year which um, “employs” hundreds and thousands of people.  Francis and Flynt claim that Adult DVD sales are down 22% from a year ago.  That is a huge decline.  However, I’m not sure that they are facing bankruptcy like some of the banks and auto makers were.

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Not that I’m sure that the banks and auto makers deserved the bailout package that they received either.  Please see my article Too Big to Fail? for further ramblings on this.  My main point is that businesses need to be sustainable just as individuals do.  If people are continually “bailed out” when their behavior leads them into a bad situation, they will never learn anything.  That is, they will continue to behave badly in just the same way that children do.  In order to learn their lesson, people (and businesses) need to be allowed to fail and face the consequences.

Larry Flynt, founder of “Hustler” magazine is quoted as saying that:  “With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind.  It’s time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America.”  His quotation is assuming that people need porn in able to have a sexual appetite.

Joe Francis, found of “Girls Gone Wild”, sees the porn industry as equal to the already bailed out industries and even bigger than them.  He said:  “Congress seems willing to help shore up our nation’s most important businesses; we feel we deserve the same consideration.”  I’m not sure that the sex industry is one of the nation’s most important businesses.  I know that they’re huge and they make tons of money but they do it, quite literally, off of the backs of other people. 

I personally wouldn’t feel too sad if the porn industry stopped making movies all together.  My guess is that people could “make do” with what has already been made.  Joe Francis has stated that he will be going to D.C. himself to speak to congress about the idea of the bailout.  I’m hoping that they think twice before handing over more tax payer money.