Michael Vick's Property

This is my latest at the Partial Observer. Excerpt:

Because laws are based on feelings rather than rational thought, it hardly matters in the end whether the law is actually effective in ending the evil. If someone came forth with pragmatic arguments, complete with statistical charts and graphs, proving that dogfighting's very illegality is what makes it thrive, and that repealing anti-dogfighting laws will actually reduce the number of dogfights and the number of suffering dogs, the argument will fall on deaf ears. That's because the law's seal of disapproval will be removed, and people will wonder what kind of society would actually permit dogfighting.. They would cling to the common-sense but false belief that legalization of a bad thing like dogfighting will result in its increase.