WSJ on the NFT Origin Story: “A few years ago, it could be difficult to find someone to accept a free NFT; today, the same digital tchotchke might fetch tens of thousands…Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are fungible because one bitcoin won’t have a different value than another, whereas NFTs are designed to be unique. They came into widespread use with the cats, but they are now being applied to digital art, albums and even weapons in videogames and other virtual accessories.” More from NYT.
The Politics of Recognition in the Age of Social Media: by William Davies
Art Carden on the Bourgeois Deal: “…The Bourgeois Deal says “Physician, heal thyself.” The Bourgeois Deal, we argue, is the appropriate Deal for a society of masterless men and women: it says leave me, a fully-grown adult, alone to blaze my own trails and try new things. Especially don’t expect me to ask you or the American Consolidated Mousetrap Company for permission to produce, sell, and market what I think will be a much better mousetrap than anything they offer. I grudgingly admit that people will imitate my innovations or at least come up with innovations of their own that lead to better mouse-catching, and hence, I don’t expect my unusual profits to last very long before I’m grudgingly forced to accept a normal rate of return—though I’ll admit when looking at a lot of those other deals that they look pretty good once I’ve got mine. By the time I’m finished, I will have made you—my customers, my shareholders, my bondholders, and my business associates—rich.”
