Eight theses for a libertarian ethic

1. Although the social circumstances in which we live determine our activities, we are free and responsible for what we do, so we can and should take sides. Nothing is predetermined, and each person has the task of deciding what kind of life they want to lead. There are no deterministic laws in the history of human beings, and we are always destined to make decisions for ourselves, without delegating that decision-making power to others. Furthermore, my freedom is only such when it is recognized by other free people like me: I am only free when everyone around me is also free, for my freedom begins where the freedom of others begins.

2. Libertarian ethics permeate our entire lives, in all areas of life, both in public and private life, both at work and in leisure. It is a way of living, a personal commitment to a specific project that breaks with established molds. It is not a superfluous adornment, but the very core of our very lives.

3. The first starting point on which an anarchist ethic is founded is rebellion. It is a radical reaction against existing injustice, whether we ourselves or those around us suffer, an injustice that provokes our moral indignation. In the face of situations of oppression and exploitation, we are very clear that we cannot remain silent or look the other way, but rather we must respond with direct and radically restorative and transformative personal action. We were not born to live on our knees, but to live with dignity, exercising our rights and always demanding that they be recognized and respected. Silence in the face of injustice makes us complicit in it.

4. It is not enough for us to rebel; we must also be clear in its general outlines about the type of world we want to live in and the type of person we want to be. We are committed to a full personal and social life and take the democratic ideal very seriously: liberty, equality, and fraternity, for all and in all spheres. We want a society governed by these principles, in which human beings are free, equal, and supportive, and can fully develop their own potential through the practice of mutual aid. We want a society without exploitation or oppression, in which no one sheds blood so that others can live better. We do not want to sacrifice any of these principles, for example, individual liberty, to achieve the others, such as equality. We postulate that all three can be exercised simultaneously, with appropriate formulas that establish the proper balances between them.

5. We cannot and do not want to wait; we do not accept that a life governed by these principles should be postponed until the emergence of a new world, following a revolution or a profound, more or less rapid evolution. We want and can live differently here and now, in the present, since the present is all we have. Our goal is to achieve a social organization radically different from the current one, but we must put this into practice now, without delay, thus showing that there are indeed people and groups capable of living differently. At any moment, under any circumstance, an alternative way of life may emerge, one that can serve as an example and put the ideal that guides us within our reach. It is not enough to proclaim that another world is possible; we must show that another world is real and in action.

6. We seek the maximum development of all human capacities, for we have the right to satisfy all our needs, both current and those that may arise at later stages of society's evolution. We are here to enjoy the life we have as much as possible. We cannot and should not resign ourselves to the limitations that confront us at all times, but rather we must constantly strive to make a fuller, happier, and, if you will, more enjoyable life possible for everyone.

7. Coexistence among human beings cannot be based on hierarchies, with a minority dictating and imposing rules on the majority of the population. The rules of coexistence, as well as the objectives to be achieved through this coexistence, must be established by all, in a broad process of participation in deliberation and decision-making. They must be rules that respect the right of minorities to pursue their own life plans, recognizing that plurality and difference, far from impoverishing our own lives, enrich them.

8. The ends never justify the means, and the means cannot be separated from one another. The means we employ must be effective and, at the same time, consistent with the ends we seek. Freedom is not imposed by decree, just as oppressive authoritarianism is not ended by resorting to authoritarian impositions. The only way to advance toward a libertarian society is by putting into practice what that libertarian society demands, even if that means taking a longer path at times. But freedom and solidarity are not the goal; they are the path.