Hollywood, California, is my spiritual hometown. I actually grew up in three other communities in California, but it hardly seems to matter which three. How could my heart take root anywhere under the tyranny of American public schooling?
I don’t have to work for a living. After my father died in December 1997, my family and I won a legal settlement.
The Blog About
Nothing: Sudheer of Hyderabad, India, is a big fan of Playboy and an
even bigger fan of Seinfeld. In this blog, he composes humorous
dialogues for the show’s characters.
Hit & Run: the official
blog of my other favorite magazine, Reason: Free Minds and Free
Markets; winner
of the 2005 Weblog Award for Best Group Blog; “the best
libertarian blog” according to the October 2005 issue of
Playboy.
Scoobie Davis Online: a self-described “filmmaker, surfer, and party crasher” in southern California. He’s also a Playboy fan, a left-leaning political gadfly, and a connoisseur of Jack T. Chick religious tracts.
The Search for
Health in Decadence: poetry and philosophical writings of Will, who has
engaged me in lengthy, good-natured debate through comments on my
blog.
Up the Tao Staircase: self-deprecating wit and wisdom from a Taoist perspective.
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven
Pinker. With stylistic flair, a Harvard cognitive scientist
refutes myths about human nature underlying a multitude of political
beliefs—including many of those that would either favor or
oppose the sexual revolution.
God in Popular Culture by Andrew M. Greeley. A liberal Catholic
priest sees quasi-Christian messages of grace abounding in the
allegedly soulless realm of commercial pop culture. For all I know,
Greeley is not necessarily a Playboy fan. But his
interpretation of Madonna’s song “Like a Virgin”—more plausible than the interpretation in Reservoir Dogs—has
influenced my impression of Playboy. (In case anyone wonders, my religious heritage is German-Hungarian Lutheran on my father’s side and Anglo-Scots-Irish secularist on my mother’s.)
For the past few weeks in particular, I’ve been grateful that my attitude toward drugs resembles Ram Dass’ more than Dr. Drew’s. If Pinsky doesn’t believe in letting people decide for themselves whether marijuana can help them, he surely wouldn’t have approved of my choice to buy MDMA (Ecstasy) powder from hippies in order to treat my post-traumatic stress. After about seven MDMA experiences between August 28 and October 9, I harbor more respect than ever for the career arc of Ram Dass. Under his born name, Richard Alpert, he helped Timothy Leary study psychedelics at Harvard in the 1960s. In context, his statements on drug addiction in the above video don’t refute but refine his earlier work. Meanwhile, Playboy has betrayed its own institutional principles by helping Dr. Drew promote the disease model of addiction, an inappropriate medicalization of human behavior that weakens civil liberties and limits options for healing and personal growth. If I had waited for permission from the drug-control bureaucracy to use MDMA, I might have waited my whole life for that molecule’s healing touch.
As Ram Dass says about drugs in general, MDMA takes me to paradise for only a few hours. But some of the tranquil wisdom of the experience just might stay with me forever. Having noticed how perfectly I fit within the cosmic order, I can’t cherish my inhibitions as personal stamps of uniqueness with the same ardor that I did before. For instance, I’m running out of patience with my smug posture of asexuality. Why am I blogging about a stream of fantasy images—and being lazy as hell even at that cushy job—instead of pursuing relationships with real women? The pictures in Playboy are never more beautiful than when I’m on MDMA, yet MDMA has been depriving me of my excuses for obsessing over them. Ram Dass appears smart enough about drugs to appreciate this paradox in all its political and moral nuances; Pinsky does not.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m pretty much retiring from Reflections on Playboy. On October 17, it will have been a good four-year run. Over the next few days, I’ll write one or two more posts to tie up loose ends. I’ll be glad to moderate new comments in perpetuity, so please speak your mind on any post. Despite what you might think by glancing at the comment menu, a Blogger.com membership is not required. Thank you all for your readership.
