"Freedom" is a very interesting ideal, but it can be a slippery slope, too.

A friend of a friend is all about "freedom" and "alternative living," but a story he told when he visited last summer points to some of the issues (a bit like your episode of "It's Always Sunny") that surround freedom... and how those who clamor in favor of unimpeded "freedom" so often seem to create an undesirable outcome.

Our friend-of-a-friend — who's always part of things like the Rainbow Gathering and Burning Man and such decided to go in search of a truly "free" place to live (in the US, in this case). His travels eventually took him to Slab City, a strange outpost in the California desert. It has complete freedom: no government, no laws, no services, no electricity, no organization. Although Ben spent almost two years in and around Slab City, he eventually left because — in his words — "it was pretty much an outdoor insane asylum, populated by nutballs, criminals, drug addicts and zombies." And this guy is a hardcore couch surfer, bin-diver and transhumanist.

Takeaway, here: Freedom disappears the moment you say "We don't want that here," and absent some form of rule system, the lowest common denominator seems to take over.

Many of us like freedom, or the idea of freedom but we don't want to live in a "Slab City."

Related to Steem/Steemit? We see "good" people leave because they feel like some group labeled "they" are ruining the platform, so they no longer want to be part of it. It was the great challenge from the beginning; it remains the great challenge. There are cultures in which "scamming and deception" are NOT seen as making you a "bad actor" (for example)... in fact, you are lauded as "clever" or "shrewd" if you can carry it off.

How do we get all these things to coexist?

Good thoughts!

=^..^=