I think there is something to say about sort of playing the system here… If there is a way for marginalized groups, and people that actually want to make a difference, to leverage this current exploitive system in their favor to gain the upper hand in one of the only possible ways they can, they should maybe take that opportunity. In our current society, money is power. Artists and marginalized groups do not have either. We have protests, social media movements, and activism from grassroots orgs/”the people” but it feels like we’re just shouting back at ourselves right now. Like we are screaming and demanding all these things but no one is listening except the people that believe in the same shit. It’s because all the people making the decisions and with the power/money have their own agendas and do not want to dismantle the system because it works in their favor. It is only until the marginalized hold these positions of power that real change will be made – but in our current methods – that does not seem to be happening anytime soon. If this is one of the only ways to even the playing field and monetarily gain that upper hand in a short-term way… maybe it will be worth it in the longterm. I think it is naive to think that we can “beat” these oppressors with representation and speaking out… unfortunately our current society requires far, far more than that to actually make any real change. There are definitely caveats to this though, how do we know these people who are “good” now will stay good if they become powerful? Will this just create the same system we are trying to fight? By the time this power shift happens, will it be too late for our environment? These are all questions I do not have the answer to. I simply do not know what to think of NFT’s right now. I think it is still too new to me and I want to reframe from participating in a reactionary way – so I would like to wait and see how things develop more before I make any decisions. I don’t usually make decisions when I’m not sure about something… so I’m holding off for now.
I also do not know if this NFT world will be a long-term thing. I feel like technology develops and shifts so fast that there will be much better ways of making a more equitable digital art world/marketplace in the future. So why start investing in this thing that is really harmful and is definitely not the best that we can do?