2021 was a year of liminality: vaccines emerged but variants loomed; people craved touch yet feared infection. The young libertine’s philosophy—prioritizing immediate, embodied pleasure—clashes with biopolitics. Mask mandates become a new moralism. Derek and Tanya might argue that public health is a cover for social control; their opponents call them reckless. The essay would ask: can libertinism survive when even a kiss is a political act?
