Word of the day: maverick \MAV-rik\ noun:1 : an unbranded range animal; especially : a motherless calf. *2 : an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party.
"You take people as far as they will go, not as far as you would like them to go." Jeanette Bankin, Pacifist and politician
I enjoy reading the Bristol Herald online as it is my hometown newspaper. Over the past several days, I've been reading reports here at Tri-Cities.com about the community's derogating perception that adult oriented businesses engender adverse social ills to the community. Globally, most adult businesses are located in business, industrial, and hybrid business/residential districts. Most are NOT located solely in residential districts.
America's first settlers' paradigm of Puritanism reaches today into our lives for good, bad, and/or indifference. That Puritanism is juxtaposed and manifests itself alongside religious values in these communities taking action to “enact emergency legislation” to curb the opening of these adult oriented businesses. Should we not pause here and ask why these businesses are opening? I believe so. The heart of a business plan and model is that in order for a business to beopened, it has to have a market to support it. No businessman in his right mind is going to open a business without a market base. In these particular local cases, could these businesses market bases be engaging in a duplicitous duality?
While I support the regulation of all businesses, I respectfully disagree that these businesses with proper regulation bring harm to the community. To the contrary, these businesses an economic base and a topic, based on fundamental and fanatical religious beliefs, which is “taboo” to the light of day-- sex. An opportunity for parents to educate their children about sex. An opportunity to teach them that sex is not a bad thing but a beautiful, creative, expressive, and meaningful act. After all, sex is one of the most powerful human qualities. It can create life. It can destroy it. Within this concept is where it is critical to the family and it's sustainability that our children be educated about sex in order for them to make educated and informed decisions as sex pertains to their lives individually and wholly.
If I could find any one issue in the Tri-Cities region that warrants “emergency legislation” being enacted is that governing the perpetually incessant opening of “payday”, “title”, and “check cashing” businesses. I can’t understand why the communities are so outraged about the adult oriented businesses while communities are being one-by-one financially raped and DESTROYED by these predatory lenders charging sometimes as much as 400 percent interest on smallloans to a predominately “at risk” part of the community. It is here that I believe political leaders are REQUIRED to step up to bat and take control of this rapid destruction of their respective communities. These lenders are preying on unskilled, low income, below poverty level, people who are nescient, without wherewithal to make informed, educated choices, and oftentimes in a position of desperation because of a lack of financial management skill and/or education to make more favorable financial decisions and choices.
The market share for the adult businesses can be shown to be a group of people better equipped socially, financially, and psychologically to be self-sustaining. The market share for the predatory lenders is a very vulnerable group of people in your community. One, I believe, as a steward of your community, you have an obligation to protect so those less fortunate can someday rise above their poverty, despair, and hopelessness. The only way they can overcome is through the power of each and every person in your community, including you.
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