Am I a Libertarian?

What I most value are personal freedoms.
Freedom of thought, freedom of choice, freedom of association, freedom of speech.

Moreover, I believe we all have a right to a basic living standard and a right not to be judged.
Nobody chooses where they want to be born, what body they are borne into,
nor the type of upbringing and experiences that brought them into adulthood.
I am not saying we shouldn't be playing by the rules ...

Photo by Kristina V on Unsplash

However, I have no opinion on what is the best way to life - in absolute terms.
It is up to everyone to make their personal choices, even if that choice limits their personal freedoms.
Even if that means to associate and live in a community without those freedoms.
Diversity should be respected as long as in our shared (public) space this respect is mutual.
Cultural diversity makes us richer, it is as important as biodiversity is to physical life.

Too idealistic?

I look at it from an evolutionary point of view. Cultures evolve in the same way as physical life does. ( Feel free to disagree :) Diversity is needed. Let communities self-organize with all the powers they need to govern their own private community with the life styles they see fit.

Step out of the human-centric bubble and look at life around you. Should we tell a cat not to catch a mouse, or a fungus not to kill a plant. Life wouldn't be where it is now without the behaviors we observe around us.

The earth used to be big, It took ages to get from one side to the other. Now it is nearly like a village.
We are so easily in each other's faces. However, what has brought us so close is also offering us an opportunity to regain distance. During the last 50 years we have created the internet, a virtual space. It allows us to communicate around the globe as if we are sitting next to each other. This virtual space could well be the perfect place to make these communities happen.

Yes. let's live in a global village but at the same time create strong local communities, both in physical and mental space. An unwanted side effect of this globalization has been excessive centralization. A handful of actors wired in to watch our every move and telling us what to do. We need to push back. Gives us law and order, ensure our freedoms are respected in public but let us express ourselves in our private communities. Be it as a heremite or as a single family, a congregation or a mega-colony.

I am not the only one thinking we need to decentralize. That is what Web3 is about, a growing movement to bring decentralisation to the internet. The sooner it happens, the better. But that discussion is for another day.