Liberty Begins At Home

We humans focus a lot on what can go wrong. We’re predisposed to take the safe route.

But that can shackle us.

According to Nobel laureate Daniel Kahnemann, the risk of loss is 7x more powerful to a human mind than a possible gain. When humans grew up in a world full of things that could kill them, staying back was prudent.

The natural flow from that is thinking ahead to make sure things go right. Planning gave us safety while taking greater risks. As we learned more from our environment, we applied this further outside ourselves. 

That way, no bad thing could ever reach our doorstep.

Extremes of Safety

At a certain point, that also causes problems. Exerting our control outside of ourselves can end up trying to control other people. And that takes systems more complex than other laws of nature we’re used to.

So keeping an eye out on our neighbors’ children turns into 96% false positives of reports to Child Protective Services. Most calls are cases of revenge with no actual wrong done.

Or the reported effectiveness of a medical intervention that leads OSHA to propose requiring it to save 6,500 lives. At a time when the reporting system had logged over 19,000 deaths from the same treatment.

Or fears that a foreign power could launder money through American shell businesses. Starting next year, all businesses must disclose their ownership. If not, they face a $500 daily fine for non-compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act.

What We’re Left With

This hasn’t given us a nicer world. It’s given us a world of doxxing and swatting people with whom we disagree. 

But it doesn’t stop there. We supercharged our financial security network to depend on these requirements. Now, dismantling any part of it destroys our neighbors’ wealth.

Having all these in place benefits large incumbent businesses and limits competition. It’s harder to get ahead without submitting ourselves to the whims of those in power.

But what if you could live in harmony with the world as it’s built? Could we still not hurt people or take their stuff?

Swinging the Pendulum

The rules above prevent people from getting ahead except at others’ expense. Those rules are also so restrictive that people can’t trust each other to get ahead together.

It may be time to step back from the shackles.

For example, one county in Florida sent money back to the CDC. That way, they wouldn’t be subject to the strings tied to it. The county had less money to do things in the short run, but more freedom to plan other things they want to do.

Or a consortium of officials in several states divesting from Blackrock retirement funds. Blackrock’s shareholder proposals would saddle local utility companies with higher costs. So the officials refused to let them invest. After that move, Vanguard withdrew from a professional agreement to maintain access those markets.

These folks set those expectations together. And it allowed them to handle their interests locally.

Do Hard Things

Yes, this takes more brainpower.

Yes, this is more expensive up front.

Yes, you are always obliged to act in honor with your neighbors. And check in on them. That’s what makes a society great.

We’ve gone past live-and-let-live to accept variations of normal. Instead, we’re imposing our perfect will on everyone else to keep ourselves safe. And it’s not working.

So while that collective planning ahead served us well for so long, it’s time to reset expectations. Starting in our own neighborhoods.

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