Desert sex amidst financial storm

23 July, 2009, 10:18

As hard times hit the world’s mainstream businesses, ladies in red are still making a living earning hard cash in brothels of the US state of Nevada.

Every man knows that women do not come cheap – something the sex industry has long capitalized on, even during recessions.

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“I feel this business is recession proof, because it’s more of a luxury than a necessity. So if you cannot afford it, then you’re not gonna come,” explains Famous Alicia, a professional that has been working in legal brothels for over 15 years through all the economic ups and downs.

People have been coming to Chicken Ranch for ages. Found in Nevada, the only state where these businesses are legal, it is the longest running brothel in the US.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the girls of Chicken Ranch used to trade intimate services for live poultry, hence the brothel’s name. Now that the economy is in another recession, and trading chickens is no longer an option, but the remarkable thing about this business is that, despite the crisis, they keep raking in the dough.

Chicken Ranch choices can wet any appetite, but the $3,000 a night bungalow is empty on an early morning, and even for Famous Alicia, this is not full time work.

“I also have my realtor’s license. I have rental properties here along the strip, some of the hotel condos. And then I have a few homes – residential homes that I rent out in southern California as well,” boasts Alicia.

40 miles through the desert, in Las Vegas, you can find a former US marine, now known as Jessica Belle. In the process of transforming her gender, she also depends on the adult industry.

“It’s just a means to survive. You know, you have to do whatever’s gonna feed you at night and what keeps you afloat,” says a former marine.

Jessica is anything but a busty bimbo. Her personal blog shows an in depth understanding of the US financial system.

“You might ask yourself how can Americans have a negative interest rate, and it’s because they’re continuing to borrow and spend more than they can save, so that right there shows you that credit is expanding to a point where it’s inevitable for it to collapse,” predicts Jessica Belle.

Jessica does not just pose questions – she has answers. Former marine Belle says that “If we had sound currency based on gold and silver then you would not give up power to somebody to counterfeit money. Because that’s exactly what the Federal Reserve does, they counterfeit money. If you or I decided to print our own money, we would be thrown in prison, but they do it everyday in the trillions.”

So if even Las Vegas is feeling the economic pinch and the oldest profession in the world is taking a dive, it appears the future does not look so bright.