Etiquette as Freedom Infrastructure

Public, visible social rules (dress codes, formal introductions, staged rituals) can function as low‑cost, decentralized enforcement mechanisms that protect individual autonomy by setting clear expectations and preventing opportunistic demands. Rather than restricting liberty, well‑designed ceremonial boundaries can reduce social coercion and lower the bargaining costs of vulnerability. — If accepted, this reframes many culture‑war arguments: policymakers and institutions should consider restoring or inventing clear, predictable social signals and rituals as a complement to legal protections for vulnerable people and to reduce performative enforcement by mobs.