> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://mauri.life/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Liberty trough Technology - URL: https://mauri.life/liberty-trough-technology/ - Published: 2021-03-29T21:44:54.000Z - Updated: 2026-01-18T11:41:17.000Z - Author: mau - Tags: #wordpress, #Import 2026-01-16 07:59, #Import 2026-07-31 07:23 I am late to this. *Very* late, when I consider my lifelong background in computer science and IT. Not *too* late hopefully, given the current perspective of geo politics. What am I talking about? I’m talking about: Open Source Software, Self-hosting, Encryption, Decentralized P2P networks, and Cryptocurrencies. I got exposed to each one of those technologies at different moments in time and at different stages of maturity, and I have used every one of them with varying levels of depth and commitment. > Those are coming together as if they were all pieces of a puzzle. Those technologies are building blocks of a future society, which will be more free, and that will heavily rely on the internet and computer technology. I am starting to recognize that with more and more conviction. Let me explain: **Open Source Software** is the foundation of trust. **Self-hosting** is the way we control land on the internet. **Encryption** is the shield that defends us against tiranny. **Decentralized P2P networks** is how we can exchange information and value with each other. **Decentralized Cryptocurrencies** are the native internet money we use to transact and store value. > Modern computer technology can facilitate a Dystopian future… > > …or one where the individual is Sovereign and the society Free. ## Open Source Software is the foundation of trust. We use computers to manage more and more of the important stuff in our lives: work, memories, finances, connection with loved ones. We entrust machines with more and more of our own, but can we really **trust** them? Computers at their core are simply software instructions executed by hardware devices. **Software** dictates **what** they do and **how** they do it. So, you need to trust the software that you use. One way for me to trust a software, is if I code it myself. Because then I am certain of what it is designed to do. If someone else wrote the code and released it as open source, I can delegate trust to a community of people who can read the code and share their judgement on its **integrity**. Otherwise if the software is closed source, then I am trusting what its authors or owners *say* it would do, or not do. Any closed source software may include all kinds of backdoors and remote controls, you simply have no way to tell. > Choose to run Open Source Software. ## Self-hosting is the way we control land on the internet. Software needs to run on hardware. Who controls the hardware, does ultimately control what services do or do not run on it. When you run any software on a machine which is not under your direct and full control, you are leaving to someone else the **capacity to shut it down**. Now depending what you are using that software for, relinquish your ability to run it or not can have a major **impact on your liberty and life**. What does it mean when one can block your social media presence? Or censor your messages before they can reach your audience? Or cut you off from your (own) data sitting on the cloud? Or shut down your e-mail account? > Choose to Self-host your own services. ## Encryption is the shield that defends us against tiranny. Encryption of data at rest, and end-to-end encrypted communications, allow us to retain true privacy and freedom. Privacy is a very important right to preserve, even when one does not have anything to hide. Why? Because when most data and messages are encrypted, that **protects the most vulnerable people** (among others minorities, activists, and kids) from abuses. More importantly, encryption can help **balance the power** of the **individual** owner of data **against the centralized entities** (corporations and governments) that have access to the data of many. Make no mistake: unencrypted data published on the internet is saved and replicated indefinitely. And what is perfectly acceptable and legal to say today, may become unacceptable, or worse, punishable in the future. Knowing that you are being watched changes your behaviour. Data is among the most valuable resources, and it will be only more valuable as time passes, that is because it gives **power to read** – and therefore **predict** – human behaviour, which ultimately means being able to **control** it. An AI that feeds on billions of data points from millions of individuals can soon know everyone order of magnitudes better than one knows him or herself. It will know to what incentives one does respond better. And it can be used to control the beliefs and the behaviour of the individual without him or her even realizing it. > Encrypt everything. ## Decentralized P2P networks is how we can exchange information and value with each other. Society does not need any central authority to function. We built central authorities throughout history out of necessity and convenience. This strategy allowed most humans to enjoy centuries of accelerating progress and great improvements in life conditions. But as we transition to the Information Age, such centralized structures are becoming a **liability** to society and individuals. As centralized networks accrue more and more power upon themselves, without increasing their responsibility accordingly, they increase the attack surface and their importance as target of malicious activities. Think of sentiment [manipulation](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320357979%5FTweeting%5Ffor%5FBrexit%5Fhow%5Fsocial%5Fmedia%5Finfluenced%5Fthe%5Freferendum?ref=mauri.life) on social media trough the use of [bots](https://www.nber.org/papers/w24631?ref=mauri.life). Think of hacking and [leaking](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/largest-personal-data-leakage-brazilian-history/?ref=mauri.life) of government [databases](https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/data-breach-information-for-taxpayers?ref=mauri.life) (and [corporate](https://www.ledger.com/blog/6-ways-to-face-the-data-breach?ref=mauri.life) ones [as well](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley%5FMadison%5Fdata%5Fbreach?ref=mauri.life)). Access to portions of the internet are occasionally or routinely blocked in many countries. Centralized networks, even when they have no inherent malicious intent, by just being centralized create too much great of a risk to its participants. > Join and use decentralized P2P networks for communication and value exchange. ## Decentralized cryptocurrencies are the native internet money we use to transact and store value. When we use central banks currencies, we are engaging in a centralized network of exchange, lending and borrowing of money. Such activities imply the creation and accrual of **power** for those who control the network. And those people are actually lacking the incentives that would keep them **accountable** with the broader population. The current financial system creates **instability** (trough credit bubbles and busts cycles) and **inequality** (trough barriers to entry and reinforcement loops). Instead, decentralized cryptocurrencies unlock the potential for a more powerful network of money to work at a truly **global** scale. Decentralized, secure, and programmable, cryptocurrencies improve **economic inclusion**, and allow for **permissionless, private and censorship resistant** financial activities. If you think that criminals are the main beneficiaries of this, think again: still today, criminals mostly use fiat money, and innocent people are the main targets of wealth seizure, transaction censorship, and financial surveillance. > Use decentralized cryptocurrencies to build your financial infrastructure. ## In conclusion Here is what you can do to avoid a dystopian future and work towards building a more Free society: - Choose to run Open Source Software. - Choose to Self-host your own services. - Encrypt everything. - Join and use decentralized P2P networks for communication and value exchange. - Use decentralized cryptocurrencies to build your financial infrastructure. Each of these steps may seem hard to do, but they are becoming **easier by the day**. Also you can implement all of the above one step at a time, gradually and incrementally, as I am myself doing. **Choose to Be Free**.