Warning: The following is a rant in which I do not talk much at all about sex, but instead reveal my left-leaning views. As if you were surprised that I was a lefty! Also, because it’s kind of ranty it doesn’t always flow as nicely as it should. Tough!
In response to the whole Eden Fantasys debacle I’ve found a lot of people who have left comments either for or against them who say things along the lines of “they’re a business and they can do whatever they want.” When exactly did we start having that mentality? Shouldn’t we expect more from the businesses we support? They are there to serve us really. And yet they’re expected to only serve themselves. They’re expected to poison us until they’re told not to. They’re expected to pollute our environment until they’re told not to. They’re expected to use slave labor until they’re told not to.
Some seem to think that the biggest reason that EF was in the wrong was because they purported to be the sex shop you can trust. But if you don’t think businesses are trustworthy then why would you take their word for it? Sounds like a world of hurt.
Seriously, why do we accept that businesses will be conniving for profit? Why are they allowed to throw tantrums when people try to do anything to regulate them – even if they were in the wrong in the first place? Hello bank failures anyone? Plummeting economy? Remember that?
We have given businesses too much freedom. They need to answer to society. Otherwise they will destroy society and our planet. Has anyone even been paying any attention to BP and that horrific oil spill?
What is this? The industrial revolution? We passed laws to protect employees and consumers and yet people are still being poisoned by their sex toys because they are unregulated.
Can you tell I don’t believe in the “free market?” The free market allows for businesses to screw everyone over. Without regulations people die and the earth suffers. We need to push our government for legal regulations. Failing that, we have to try to self-regulate and vote with our dollars. This is extremely difficult, especially for people who have lower incomes or none at all. And it all ends up being kind of cyclical. People can only afford to shop at Walmart because they buy from Walmart which drives the economy downwards.
I try to vote with my dollars when I can, but I don’t make much money and I have a wife who is in grad school. Plus with the fact that I work pretty much constantly, I’m limited in how much research I can do and how much time I can spend searching out products and services I can believe in. I realize a lot of people have this problem. I also realize that a lot of people don’t care because they don’t understand how it all affects them.
Anyways, my goal is to make the world a little bit safer. A friend and I are currently working out a system in which to certify the ethical conduct of adult business. I will say more when we get closer to launch. I’m just full of surprises! ;)
I’ve never been here before, I followed this link from Twitter. I am in no way affiliated with Eden Fantasies or any other ‘Adult Business’ but I must say: this rant of yours, I’m adding it to the trunk I carry within my heart/mind tunnel as just another little tidbit of *hope* for the rest/future of mankind. Thank you for giving me this sunshine. I’m nobody, but I approve of this message.
I also came here from Twitter. I love this post so much.
Glad you both enjoyed the post! Feel free to share.
In theory, the idea of a free, self-regulating market sounds so nice.
BUT THAT’S NOT REALITY.
And thus, I concur with your post.
Amen.
I’ve wrestled with ethical questions since the first day I opened my shop. In the end it’s why I shut down. I’m not going to make a profit at anyone’s expense.
It started about ten years ago as a “olde-timey” blacksmithing shop with an artistic slant, and as some of my customers found out that I could make completely unique gear, they started talking to me about projects more suitable for the bedroom than the stables or weapons rack.
Mostly I worked on custom leather work & harness, percussion toys of all kinds, and the occasional piece of dungeon furniture. I did my best to source materials & fabricate as green as possible (sustainable exotic hardwoods, use recycled metals & plastics, make my own charcoal, etc), but sometimes the job just had to get done to put food on the table.
I know this sounds like a lot of back story, but it’s for a good reason. In sourcing and looking around for gear for all these folks- I had to educate myself about anatomy, chemistry, and business- and I learned that the vast majority of the adults-goods stores are screwing the common man & woman just as hard as they can go. 100$ for a riding crop? When I can get one twice as nice (and twice the quality) from any tack n’ saddle shop for twenty bucks? 30$ for a single silicone cock ring when I get the same thing for thirty cents from a hydraulics suppler? I can understand the urge to make a profit, but some people are are on a budget, and everyone deserves safe playthings.
Many, many, many of the insertion toys on the market today are simply toxic- end of discussion. That’s the reason I started making my own for my customers, and my wife and I. I’m real picky about materials: Derlin, surgical silicone, aircraft aluminium, virgin Teflon, and surgical grade 314 or 440 stainless steel was all I’d ever use. Simply put, I wouldn’t make anything for anyone I wouldn’t want on/in MY body.
Unfortunately, a ton of companies are not like that- You are very correct- Education is the key here.
Thanks for reading.
-Starhammer
Starhammer: Thanks for sharing your story. It’s really too bad that you shut down your store because you definitely seem like the kind of shop owner I could get behind and would love to promote and patronize.
I think there is a difference between making a profit at someone’s expense and making a profit for providing people with quality products and services at a reasonable price. And it sounds like you were doing the latter.