Authoritarian Busybodies

Here we go again.

Conservatives were livid that public defender Tiffany Cabán, a self-described “31-year-old queer Latina,” was the apparent winner over Queens Borough President Melinda Katz in the Democratic primary for the district attorney of Queens.

Cabán was endorsed by the editorial board of the New York Times, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Her opponent, and eventual winner, was endorsed by Planned Parenthood of New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Sounds like a race between Tweedledum and Tweedlee.

While I certainly agree with the overall conservative criticisms of Cabán—she is, after all, a radical leftist—there are two positions she holds that conservatives have criticized that reveal them to be authoritarian busybodies. The Free Society Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $13.55 Buy New $17.54 (as of 04:55 UTC - Details)

The following are taken from a questionnaire that Cabán responded to earlier this year:

Do you believe in the legalization of sex work?

Absolutely, and my campaign has included sex work advocates in the development of policies. I will not only decline to prosecute individuals who engage in sex work, but will partner with sex workers to push for legislative reform. The criminalization of sex work does not make our communities any safer; rather, criminalization prevent survivors of trafficking from coming forward and disproportionately impacts transgender women and women of color, who are overwhelmingly targeted in arrests. As DA, my office’s policies will support the legalization and de-stigmatization of sex work. This will allow sex workers to seek health services without judgment and to reach out to police and the DAs office when they are victims of crime.

Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana?

I support the legalization of recreational marijuana, and I would not only decline to prosecute marijuana cases, but all drug possession cases. My office will decriminalize possession, use, and distribution of recreational drugs that does not pose a threat to the public health (e.g. threats like trafficking fentanyl). We will advocate to legalize marijuana and put resources from its legalization in the communities most preyed-upon by the drug war.

After reading the conservative criticisms of Cabán on these two issues and comparing them with the usual conservative criticisms of libertarianism, there is only one conclusion one can come to: conservatives are obsessed with sex and drugs to the point of being authoritarian busybodies.

Now, before I continue, let me say that I don’t necessarily agree with everything that Cabán says in her responses or has said regarding sex work, sex workers, marijuana, or other drugs. And I neither keep company with nor condone the actions of prostitutes, drug dealers, strippers, and drug users. If people choose to do engage in prostitution or drug use that is their business. It is none of my business, none of your business, none of society’s business, and it is none of the government’s business—as long as the activity is peaceful, consensual, and doesn’t violate the personal or property rights of third parties.

The libertarian positions on prostitution and drug use are so simple that I can sum them up in one sentence each:

There should be no laws of any kind at any level of government for any reason regarding what anyone does with his or her own body.

There should be no laws of any kind at any level of government for any reason regarding the buying, selling, growing, processing, transporting, manufacturing, advertising, using, or possessing of any drug.

The caveat, of course, is that the activity must be peaceful, consensual, and not violate the personal or property rights of third parties. For example: prostitutes and drug users can’t park in your driveway and do their thing, women can’t be forced into prostitution, drugs can’t be offered for sale in the middle of a grocery store. Gun Control and the Se... Laurence M. Vance Buy New $5.95 (as of 11:36 UTC - Details)

Conservatives say they believe in the Constitution, limited government, federalism, personal responsibility, free enterprise, individual freedom, private property, and the free market.

Sure they do.

Conservatism is antithetical to these things when it comes to the issues of sex and drugs.

Here is a definition of conservatism that you won’t find in any dictionary.

Conservatism: an authoritarian philosophy that thinks people should be arrested and fined or locked in a cage for engaging in private consensual behavior or peaceful activity that doesn’t violate the personal or property rights of anyone merely because the government doesn’t approve of it.