Sex, Drugs, and Thickness

I might write more on this eventually, but for now let it be known that I think Libertarian Thickness can be interpretted differently in different ways. Everyone who takes Thickness seriously understands that there are more dimensions to authority, coercion, and power than the mere use or threat of physical force, and that a genuine commitment to anti-authoritarianism and individual freedom requires a broader commitment to levelling out certain social hierarchies and defending the individual's control over oneself against undue social pressures and other non-political threats to autonomy. But the answer to whether this or that counts as a non-political threat to autonomy depends on who you're asking. Here are a few examples.

Sex: Does Thick Libertarianism demand we do away with gender roles? Does it look down on sexual objectification? Or does it demand an acceptance of and appreciation for a vast diversity of sexual expressions? Does it allow for personal sexual preferences, or does it demand that we each be equally attracted to every phenotype?

For a vain little indication of what I think on it, let me share this quote with you: "i objectify men, that’s what i do. if you have a problem with that then start your own blog."

Drugs: Some people believe that a broader commitment to control over oneself implies shunning psychoactive drugs. If I remember right, Ayn Rand did. Penn does too. And so does the Church of Satan. Then there's this guy, who calls himself the Last Libertarian, who writes: "The first Randians I ran into decided I wasn't good material for their cause on account of my habit of winding up dead drunk in the gutter in strange towns on weekends."

Advocating a culture of control over oneself can mean either that recreational drug use should be socially demonized, or that recreational drug use should be celebrated. I used to do the latter, but now these days stupefication bores me almost as much as sobriety does. And there's my best friend who called me at 2 this afternoon to tell me that he's too hung over to ride his bike to work and to ask me to leave my work early and drive him to his work.

Maybe there is some kind of middle ground between drug-positive and drug-negative Thickness. Drugs may be celebrated, so long as their use is temperate. And I don't think the celebration of their use needs to be universal. What should be universal, is the dogmatic condemnation of paternalistic force. (That might not be that different from Thinness.)

Religion: Is Thick Libertarianism strictly secularist, or does it demand that we have not just an understanding of but also an appreciation for a vast diversity of religious viewpoints?