The efforts of many charities are often hampered by the red tape of bureaucracy, and the presence of hierarchical structures within these organizations can complicate matters even further.
To bypass these inefficiencies PactDAO co-founder Marisa Rando suggests that those aiming to distribute aid focus on being “active,” as this is the root word in the term “activism.” Rando hinted that the presence of hierarchical structures within charitable organizations leads to bias in the distribution of aid, whereas adopting a fully decentralized model encourages activism from givers and recipients.
This results in the foundation of stronger communities and more objectivity and fairness in the selection and distribution of aid. This is the true intent of mutual aid and grassroots activism.
On Episode 11 of The Agenda, hosts Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond were joined by Rando, who discussed the key differences between charity and mutual aid and shared several of the initiatives being spearheaded by PactDAO.
When skepticism turns to optimism
Initially, Rando and others at PactDAO were generally skeptical about cryptocurrency, but after a year of successfully fundraising and connecting New York City residents with various mutual aid organizations, a few members began to explore more efficient ways to democratically run the organization and distribute aid.
Recurring challenges with trying to establish a democratically managed bank account eventually led to PactDAO exploring the components of Web3.
Rando said:
“We had been kind of talking to lawyers and talking to accountants and trying to design what we would later find out is a multisig. We were like, how do we create this bank account in which, you know, multiple groups can be involved in it? But, you know, there’s guardrails. There’s a democracy built into it. And I remember explaining this to a friend, and they were like, this is what I’ve been talking to you about. This is this crypto stuff. This is what our DAO runs on. It’s called a multisignature…..
