Reciprocity

A Quick Look at Cotometism

Cotometism is a way of thinking about freedom—not the kind you find on bumper stickers or in speeches, but the kind that shows up in everyday life.

First Principles of Cotometism

Cotometism starts with a simple truth: each of us has one life—fragile, but ours to shape. From that comes Life Autonomy (the freedom to steer our own lives) and Reciprocity (the choice to help protect that freedom in others). Institutions are valuable only if they provide people opportunities to shape their own lives. The goal isn’t some utopia, but something practical: a world where everyone has more room to live freely, sustained by mutual support.

Two Kinds of Caring: Nurturing and Challenging

Care is not sentiment but structure. Cotometism distinguishes two forms of care—nurturing and challenging—that together sustain and renew freedom.

Cotometism redefines care as an intentional act that responds to vulnerability. It distinguishes between nurturing care, which preserves Life Autonomy when it is fragile, and challenging care, which strengthens Life Autonomy when it can grow. Together, these forms of reciprocity provide the practical means by which freedom survives—personally and institutionally.

The Righteousness Trap: How Ideologies Create a “Permission Structure” for Coercion

Conviction can liberate—or it can license domination. Examining how moral certainty can become coercion, and how Cotometism offers a safeguard.

Movements that begin with noble ideals can drift into violence, not because their goals are wrong, but because of ideologies that grant moral authority to dominate. This essay explores that coercive ‘permission structure’—and shows how the principles of Cotometism can prevent conviction from turning into control.

Common Misunderstandings of Cotometism

Cotometism differs enough from traditional approaches that it is sometimes misread as contradictory, dismissive, or utopian.

Critics might call cotometism contradictory, naïve, or utopian. This essay takes those objections head-on, showing how autonomy and reciprocity actually reinforce one another, why vulnerability makes reciprocity indispensable, and how institutions can be tools for liberty rather than ideals. Cotometism doesn’t promise perfection—it offers clarity about the real conditions that let lives remain free.

If You’ve Called Yourself a Socialist, You May Be Interested in Something New

Cotometism begins not with systems or classes, but with each individual life—and what it takes for that life to be lived freely.

Many people call themselves socialists because they sense that conditions unfairly limit lives and concentrate power. Cotometism shares concerns for vulnerability and exploitation, but it starts with the fragile autonomy of each individual life. Where socialism might rely on authority and redistribution, cotometism emphasizes Life Autonomy and Reciprocity—direct empowerment and voluntary cooperation that make freedom last.

Introducing Cotometism

How cotometism emerged from my street, my questions, and the many people I’ve met

Cotometism begins with a simple fact: each of us has one life, and that life is vulnerable. The power to shape it is called Life Autonomy. Because no one can secure autonomy alone, we rely on Reciprocity—voluntary cooperation that reinforces one another’s ability to live freely. Cotometism shows how self-reliance and reciprocity fit together to protect the only life each of us gets.

Comparative Table

A table comparing the treatment of life autonomy and reciprocity in major frameworks outside cotometism.