NFTs for freedom: Nonfungible tokens and the right to self-determination

It seems like everyone from corporate giants like Visa and Anheuser-Busch socialize Paris hilton and NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant - has recognized the growing importance of non-fungible tokens (NFT) for the economy of the 21st century.

World-renowned artists, athletes and musicians have taken advantage of the craze, giving legitimacy to this new use of technology that enables the ownership of a wide range of digital assets. But the true test of this innovation will not be how it helps the wealthy perpetuate their positions of power, but how NFTs can advance human rights and other public goods.

The right to self-determination

Let's start with the most misunderstood international human right: the right to self-determination. That was the underlying principle behind the fourteen points of the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, at the end of the First World War, Highlights in the Charter of the United Nations of 1945 and incorporated in the International Bill of Human Rights of the United Nations.

And while self determination provides all “peoples” with the right to “freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development”, their exercise was reserved for the national liberation movements to become fully independent states after long decolonization battles. No one else needed to apply. But now, with non-expendable tokens, the right to self-determination can be more fully realized, outside the context of statehood.

Voting rights, including access and confidence in the electoral process, could be facilitated by non-expendable tokens, making them more accessible and strengthening the democratic process. It is not unreasonable to imagine a political world in which civil rights are replaced by membership rights embedded in smart contracts. An NFT holder could vote on proposals in the large community of other NFT holders and see changes enacted in real time via smart contracts. Voting on the blockchain could solve a litany of current real-world problems, most notably fraud or access to polling stations.

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NFT for governments

There are countless ways in which NFTs can facilitate the pursuit of economic, political, and social agendas. In such a system, states would no longer be the sole arbiter of disputes, the arbiter of property rights, or the executor of contracts. Smart contracts on the blockchain can do all of that. We could develop a new system in which individuals or political groups (whose membership is represented by NFT) vote on the mechanisms to distribute goods and services more effectively rather than being taken over by besieged, inefficient or traditional bureaucracies. Goodbye to politics as always.

After all, we don't all have to vote in unison whether we are Democrats, Republicans, or registered independents. We could support gun rights, but we could also be open to choice regarding abortion and vaccinations. An individual could easily show support for a variety of causes simply by taking control of any underlying NFT that matches group membership. With this change, we may have many more ways of defining "me" outside of our nation or even traditional identity politics. We may choose to be part of other communities rather than being advocates for the jurisdiction and predilection of our pre-assigned cultural, economic, religious, social, or political groups.

Related: Decentralized parties: the future of chain governance

As such, self-determination does not have to revolve around statehood. This is a breakthrough when one reflects on the litany of failed secessionist projects after World War II, when renegade provinces tried to further exercise the right to self-determination. The disastrous civil wars that accompanied the dissolution of the former Yugoslav Soviet Socialist Republic (1990s), Katanga (1962), and Biafra (1967) are examples of this.

In the last example, the leaders of Biafra wanted that territory to be their own country, separate from Nigeria. Much of Africa had recently decolonized, so additional secessionist movements were seen as threats to the continent's political stability. Only a handful of African states recognized the independence of Biafra, a movement that was doomed to fail. It is estimated that between half a million and two million people starved to death in the civil war during that unfortunate exercise in self-determination: the fight for the defense of human rights has never gone so badly.

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However, Biafra produced its currency. But the money supply is only one area of ​​the responsibility of the state as sovereign. The public goods that a state must supply can also include public health, citizen security, public services, clean environment, drinking water and even basic food.

With the tulipomania of NFTs showing no signs of abating, let's find ways to harness this insanity to better develop the mechanisms by which we govern ourselves and distribute public goods. Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Paris Hilton, and multinational companies have enough power and fame already.

This article was a co-author of this article. James cooper and Peter grazul.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here belong exclusively to the authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.