Welfare or Work

This story comes to me from Germany but it really illustrates the power of Government and its affects on people lives. Now I never paid much attention but it seems like Germany fully legalized prostitution a couple of years ago with brothel owners paying taxes and providing health insurance. Now it seems like these tax paying citizens are demanding their rights as employers of certain government services. A young women has a choice. Either <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42615" target="_new">work as a prostitute</a> or lose their unemployment benefits.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>A provision in the German welfare system is forcing out-of-work women to chose between taking jobs in the sex industry or losing their unemployment benefits. <br />n<br />nOnce one of the most generous systems in Europe, Germany's unemployment program has been reformed to require those out of work to take jobs for which they are qualified, or lose benefits. In the case of women, females below the age of 55 who have been out of work for a year or more must take any available job offered.</blockquote><br />n<br />nI find this unbelievable. It's one thing for a consenting adult to enter the business of prostitution, the problem being very few do, but it is unfathomable for the Government to force them into it.<br />n<br />nThen the Government of Germany has also instituted an apprentice program now.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>Last year, the German federal government announced that it would be fining employers that failed to hire trainees – a measure to be applied to brothels as well as other employers. Brothels failing to hire one apprentice for every 15 employees will be fined for failing to promote the sex industry. <br />n<br />nGermany legalized prostitution in 2002 in the belief it would slow down the trafficking in women and reduce the role of organized crime in the profession. Instead, government is expanding the sex industry by guaranteeing a steady stream of new recruits, some willing and some not.</blockquote><br />n<br />nSomething to think about if they ever talk about legalizing prostitution, unintended consequences.<br />n<br />n<b>Prostitution is the most hideous of the afflictions produced by the unequal distribution of the world's goods; this infamy stigmatizes the human species and bears witness against the social organization far more than does crime. Flora Tristan</b><br />n<br />nUPDATE: In the comments BR says this story is a fake. After googling around I find no eveidence this is fake per say. It looks like by the letter of the law the article is real according to <a href="http://washingtontimes.com/world/20050202-112808-5860r.htm" target="_new">this story</a> it has never happened it could.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>Germany's trade union federation has warned that unemployed people can legally be asked to seek work in brothels under new welfare reforms introduced on Jan. 1 aimed at cutting mass joblessness. <br />n The reforms, the toughest package of cuts introduced by any German government since World War II, state that people out of work for more than 12 months must take on any type of work or face cuts in their benefits. <br />n Prostitution is legal in Germany and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's center-left government gave prostitutes employment protection rights in 2002. Prostitutes are now eligible for social welfare benefits. <br />n "At present, no one is being asked to work as a prostitute against their will, and such a situation will probably never arise. But the government has neglected to clarify what type of work should be judged unacceptable, and that's what we're criticizing," said Claudia Falk, spokeswoman for the DGB trade union federation in the northern port of Hamburg. <br />n "We need to get legal definitions of what constitutes unacceptable work," Ms. Falk said. "Theoretically, there could be misunderstandings. You could get cleverly worded advertisements for jobs as 'young waitresses' that have little to do with serving tables."</blockquote><br />n<br />nSo it appears the story is true but not completly true. If it can happen it probably will though