In the first diary that I posted on this site, I wrote about the right to privacy. In it, I postulated that the heart and soul of the concept of privacy is the freedom to be yourself. Recently, it has occurred to me that the freedom to be yourself is not only at the heart of privacy, it is also at the heart of the emerging Libertarian Democrat worldview.
The Libertarian Democrat believes that everyone should have the freedom to take the actions and make the lifestyle choices (and yes, that includes dangerous and unhealthy lifestyle choices) that are necessary to find oneself, and then to authentically be oneself. He does not like it when individuals infringe upon these freedoms. He does not like it when government infringes upon these freedoms. And, he does not like it when corporations infringe upon these freedoms.
To make sure that these three potentially malevolent forces are held in check, he is willing to balance them against one another utilizing a healthy mix of both positive and negative liberties. However, the ultimate aim of this balancing act is the aforementioned freedom of selfhood. Finding yourself, and then being yourself, is the whole point of life, according to the Libertarian Democrat.
Please let me know what you think of this notion, as I love the recent discussions on this theme that have been happening on this site. I think that the Libertarian Democrat is one of the best frames to emerge recently, as it allows us to talk about stuff like freedom and privacy and selfhood. Libertarianism is essentially what the Republicans rode to victory in the 90s. If its up for grabs now, I say lets grab it.