The illusion of fairness
Hi frens,
After running public goods funding through web2 and web3, I have mixed feelings about public goods funding.
On the positive side, the connections made through the activities were great. We collaborated with partners. We learned more about our users, and vice versa. I recommend this article “The past, present and future of public goods funding” (though I completely lost track of how I found it).
However, on the negative side, all of us had to play by rules, which definitely benefited some types of projects. People who were left behind could argue that these rules created an unfair playing field, putting them at a disadvantage.
I had a feeling that there was an illusion of fairness here. No it doesn’t exist. Because we couldn’t even have an objective definition of public goods. It’s not natural science.
It’s increasingly challenging to secure funding if the project owner lacks connections with any of the reviewers.
During gathering of blocktrend members on 11/25, mashbean replied, “Resource distribution always involves connections,” and now I agree with that (I used to disagree the idea). I couldn’t start any of those public goods projects without connections with communities.
We need to strike a balance between making connections and building things. It's more of an art than following procedures, and I'm learning from it.
Your friend,
Denken