[Lnc-business] Age of Consent and Statutory Rape. WTF.

[Caryn Ann Harlos]

Thank you Ken.

Arvin has gone way beyond the bounds of any rational good sense and is
basically “forcing” the rest of us to be associated with that.

I DON’T CONSENT.

Do I want to now go raise money or get members?

I disagree that arbitrary age lines are not an important issue I absolutely
agree that there are much more principled and moral ways to address that
include way more nuance and subjects other than giving cover for potential
predation.  Just because Facebook exists doesn’t mean it is the best venue
for all discussions, and no leader worth their salt should need to be told
that.

-Caryn Ann


On Fri, Jan 12, 2018 at 9:43 PM Ken Moellman <ken at moellman.com> wrote:

> All -
>
> While no longer a member of the body, I am a member of the party and I
> cannot remain silent on this matter.  No response is necessary, because
> I've had all day to filter through everything. I ask that you simply
> consider what's going on.
>
> My facebook feed was dominated by this today. Our competition within the
> broader (small-L) movement has seized upon this.  This is far, far worse
> than anything else that's happened. At this point, I'm convinced that Gary
> Johnson could be dressed as satan on Easter weekend, strip naked, and
> defecate on a picture of Ron Paul, and it would probably be less damaging
> than what has occurred.
>
> From a purely political perspective, there is literally no reality where
> anything resembling a condoning of pedophilia is a good plan.
>
> From a philosophical, moral, and ethical perspective, I see absolutely no
> justification for adults taking advantage of children through information
> asymmetry to obtain sexual satisfaction. In my view, it is fraudulent to
> intentionally use information you have to deceive others who don't.
> Voluntary exchange requires that both parties be informed.  Where
> governments exist, the law should be set up to protect people from (and
> more appropriately, when possible, compensated for) aggression. Fraud is
> aggression.
>
> From a biological perspective, people are generally wired to protect their
> children. That's how our species continues to exist.  (Google it.)
>
> So, this entire line of argument goes against politics, philosophy,
> morality, ethics, and biology.
>
> The arguments about arbitrary lines are ridiculous. As one who graduated
> from high school when I was just barely 16, I was personally affected by
> these arbitrary lines. And if we're going to have that discussion, we could
> use topics like alcohol, or  cigarettes, or drivers licenses, or pretty
> much anything else.  Not to mention the fact that many states already have
> added flexibility in the lines for sexual relationships, either through
> emancipation or so-called "Romeo and Juliet" laws.
>
> There are real ramifications to this to internal party work, as well. I
> was planning to work on the mail server today.  Instead, I was on Facebook
> all day doing various forms of damage control.  I wasn't the only one.
> Everything that I saw from the entire established party machine was spent
> today doing damage control instead of growing the party. On this very
> body,  Caryn Ann spent time writing an open letter.  Daniel spent time
> trying to get people to ignore it. I think I saw a few others clipped,
> quoted, or screen-shot as well.
>
> This has good, longer-term activists looking to disassociate from the
> party entirely.  Anyone who has been paying attention to the response today
> has probably seen the same thing.
>
> Seriously.  WTF.
>
> As a former state chair and candidate for office, I can definitively say
> that there's a responsibility that comes with the title.  You no longer
> speak with your own voice. You speak with the voice of those you
> represent.  And in multiple groups today, it was voiced by others, both
> inside and outside of the party, that a lack of action by this body would
> be speaking for the party as a whole as to their position on this issue.
> And honestly, I can't disagree with that assertion.
>
> Sincerely,
> Ken Moellman
> Monthly Donor
>
>
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