I’m a Libre. I Hate Dependencies.

All misery stems from dependence—whether in personal life or business. To be free, truly free, we must be libre.

The word free originates from the French libre, which itself comes from Latin. However, libre carries a deeper meaning than just freedom—it represents liberty, not price.

For example, libre software is free to use and free of restrictions, but not necessarily free of charge. It’s unfortunate that we often conflate the two concepts.

True freedom lies in eliminating dependencies. To be libre is to be independent.

If I rely on a single income source, a specific technology, a particular provider, or even a single company, I will never be truly free. Dependencies restrict control over my own destiny.

The only way to attain deep, lasting freedom is to systematically break dependencies. Let me explore how this principle applies across different areas of life.

Personal Freedom

At an individual level, it is possible to minimize dependencies. But complete independence is unrealistic and undesirable. Relationships, friendships, and communities provide meaning and support. However, we must avoid dependencies that strip away optionality. Clinging to a single option in life—whether a career path, or a financial stream—limits choices and creates fragility.

Partners are different. My wife reads this. (And I love her.)

Business Independence

In business, reducing dependencies is crucial. A company should not be overly reliant on specific employees, technologies, or customers. Optionality is key:

• No single employee should be indispensable.
• No single technology should be irreplaceable.
• No single customer should hold disproportionate leverage over the company’s survival.

A business must be resilient by maintaining flexibility—ensuring that if one element fails, the entire system does not collapse.

National Sovereignty

Independence is power. A country is only as strong as its ability to operate without a crippling reliance on others. Economic and geopolitical independence ensures stability. A nation with few alternatives is a fragile one.

The Role of Optionality

If being libre means eliminating dependencies, then optionality is the key to achieving it. The freedom to choose is the foundation of true independence.

This concept aligns with Milton Friedman’s idea that a free society must allow individuals to make their own choices. By maximizing optionality, we create an anti-fragile system that can adapt and thrive under uncertainty.

Practical Applications

For Individual Contributors (ICs)

• Develop a broad skillset with deep expertise in areas of genuine interest (T-shaped skills).
• Avoid over-specialization in a single tool, framework, or industry.
• Ensure your value is transferable across different domains and market conditions.

For Managers

• Build teams that are not reliant on a single individual or technology.
• Hire generalists where possible—full-stack developers instead of ultra-specialized roles (unless the team is large enough to support specialization).
• Implement redundancy: Ensure that if one person leaves, the team remains functional.
• Apply resilience principles from engineering:
• Fault tolerance (handling failure without collapse)
• Risk mitigation (proactively addressing weaknesses)
• Redundancy (e.g., RAID storage systems)
• Graceful degradation (ensuring systems function at reduced capacity if necessary)
• Modularity (designing components that can be swapped or adapted)
• Introduce controlled chaos: Rotate team members, mix disciplines, and encourage flexibility to prevent single points of failure.

For Companies and Startups

• Hire adaptable employees who can take on multiple roles.
• Avoid relying on a single major customer (no 80/20 revenue dependency).
• Diversify product offerings to maintain flexibility.
• Ensure no single VP or executive holds too much control—organizational fragility is a risk.

Conclusion

Freedom is not about rejecting all attachments but about avoiding over-dependence. Whether as individuals, companies, or nations, we must cultivate optionality to remain truly libre.

Salam, peace.

Recommended Readings

For deeper insights on being libre, consider these books:

• Fooled by Randomness – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The Black Swan – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The Open Society and Its Enemies – Karl Popper
• The Law – Frédéric Bastiat
• On Liberty – John Stuart Mill
• Safe Haven – Mark Spitznagel
• Human Action – Ludwig von Mises
• Any book by F. A. Hayek