The Intersection of Politics, Community, and NFTs

If the medium is indeed the message as Marshall McLuhan opined, then the message has been decentralized and there's no looking back. After decades of deteriorating trust in the Establishment resulted in a failed reality television personality capturing the nomination of the Republican party and eventually the White House, it has become clear that a significant portion of the country has little to no interest in the continuation of the status quo of centralized power.

The progressive movement has also lost all patience with mainstream politics after the ludicrous primaries in 2016 and 2020 so it's safe to say that a majority of Americans have had their fill of the consolidation of power, markets, media, and money.

Witness the rise of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain in markets and applications around the world. Bitcoin, Etherium, and Waves, to name just a few, are educating the global population about the security and stability of the blockchain setting the stage for a myriad of new applications. Enter the creative communities of artists and musicians who have historically been locked out of profiting from the secondary markets that collectors utilize to raise enormous sums from an artist's work. Now thanks to Etherium (ETH) via platforms like Mintable, OpenSea, and Rarible among others, artists can write a smart contract, a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), that requires a percentage of the subsequent sale price of each certifiably unique collectible goes to the creator, providing a source of passive residual income that could eliminate the phrase "starving artist" from the lexicon.

It was exactly this aspect of the NFT community that inspired me to once more examine how I might be able to use the tattered remnants of the "old guard" politics to raise money for the communal benefit of the 99%. With a little bit of research and the feature on Mintable that allows the public to set up an auction of domains as well as pixel art, experimental videos, and original music, it was fairly easy to register a domain name for the odds-on favorite 'R' ticket in the next presidential election. Not that I have a horse in that race, now or ever, but barring complete societal collapse (which I'm not entirely ruling out, mind you), someone is going to be the standard-bearer for the "red team".

You see, I couldn't care less if the RNC buys up the Top-Level Domain TRUMPCRUZ24.COM to guard against angry "fiscal conservatives" or the DNC pays for it in order to redirect traffic from the likely Republican ticket to Biden's reelection campaign. Either way, I intend to donate half of the funds raised by this auction to causes that will have immediate and lasting benefits for the most in need. From soup kitchens and food pantries to COVID-19 Mutual Aid Groups and RIP Medical Debt there are plenty of places that can put money to work better and faster than either of the two Establishment status quo parties. And with a bit of political judo, we can make the 1% foot some of the bills as a result of their pursuit of immortality through art ownership.

As a community, we are faced with an opportunity to raise the consciousness of our fellow passengers on this hurtling space rock regarding the interconnected nature of our fragile existence. Our shared plight of the ongoing pandemic has exposed the core flaws in our "dog eat dog" standard operating procedure. Without entirely upending the foundation of our capitalist society in the short term, advancements like DeFi, NFTs, and cryptocurrency change the thought process of the 99% and the 1% alike. Ideally, we will be able to transition beyond the 19th Century thinking that clings to zero-sum calculations in a post-scarcity future. 

Recent attention to and education about cryptocurrency in general and NFTs in particular by the 1% has brought the Corporate Media outlets to the game. Celebrities like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban brought the cameras but it's the artists who'll bring the vision.

Bring it.

Gilvary has created and destroyed universes for his own amusement for longer than many of his friends have been alive and still has to deal with robocalls. (Disclaimer: Some products linked within the article are affiliate programs and Gilvary may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase.)