Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:If I fuck some groupies while touring, would you consider there's power at play? I would, if only for the reason they wouldn't be remotely interested if I weren't in the band.
If they were adults and consenting I wouldn't see it as a big issue. Yes, there's power at play, but there's also power at play when a millionaire like Donald Trump marries a centerfold model, or when a good looking fellow bangs a not so good looking gal because she's easily available.
There's always some kind of power at play in relationships. People have sex with other people for a variety of reasons: power, money, fame, good looks, charisma, excitement, even conformism ("everyone's doing it, so I might as well do it"). Unless you want to limit sexual relationships to people who are in a stable relationship based on mutual emotional attraction you'll always have some cases of sex due to power differential. And even in couple where emotional attraction is at play you get cases where one side is more "powerful" than the other.
I don't think that what consenting adults do together is anyone's business but theirs. Even cheating is a problem between the persons involved and their eventual families, not a social issue. I believe that unless you're directly involved in a relationship (sexual or otherwise) between consenting adults it's best to mind one's own business.
Anyway I find it funny that many people here are so certain that Carrier is a moral depravate when we were willing to give Shermer the benefit of doubt. Regardless of whether he's guilty of the "hand grenade" rape, Shermer also admitted to hitting on women younger than him at conferences where he's a speaker, and I didn't see anyone arguing that he's potential danger to high school students.