Fellow Futurists:

As someone who believes in individual ownership of digital rights and that privacy itself is a fundamental human right, it is important to call out scams and lunatics that would try to hijack these concepts for selfish causes. The Sovereign Citizen Movement is a collection of people who believe they are sovereign individuals, separate from the U.S. government and laws. Self-sovereign identity is about digital trust, which builds upon cryptographic keys, wallets and identity. Let's take a few minute to examine both in some detail.

The Sovereign Citizen Movement was born out of an anti-government movement and has since grown into a growing cult-like movement with members across the country who believe that they are immune from arrest due to their "sovereign status".

!courtroom sketch artist illustration, clown cross examining normal witness, 8k, --ar 16:9 --test --creative

**The very public trial of Darrell Brooks in Wisconsin is currently underway where the defendant is using a claim of being a 'sovereign citizen'. People who use this claim view the legal system as books of magic, and that saying random phrases make things magically happen. Not unlike Michael Scott's declaration of bankruptcy in 'The Office'.

!No alt text provided for this image

Naïve and sad is the nicest way to describe this. Or maybe a failing in understanding of civics education lessons from school. In any case, this is divorced from reality. State exists, society has real rules and laws, and the legal system is the best we have come up with over the course of human history. It may not be perfect, it certainly isn’t magical. It is entirely separate from true self-sovereign identity.

Self-sovereign Identity

Self-sovereign identity is the way to free everyone and their data from web2 and give them the power to control it. We are at a pivotal moment in this movement. International standards have been agreed to, state and federal governments have launched pilots globally, even the automotive industry is embracing verified credentials.

!No alt text provided for this image

Universal digital wallet standards are being developed to give normal people the ability to safely self manage (or custody) their credentials and digital assets. This is huge! Our grandchildren will laugh at the random pieces of paper we use to carry our whole lives and that an app use to be able to sell our data.

As our lives become increasingly more digital, our ability to say with confidence someone is who they claim to be also needs to make the transition. Hundreds of years of thought have gone into counting unique individuals and how to identify everyone. Physical drivers license and passports are examples of identity attestations and they contain great characteristics (they are portable, durable, secure, and updateable). The next evolution is freeing the concept from the medium. The state can sign and issue digital credentials that will be held by the individual. Since these are digital we can make them even more secure and private than ever before. The person holding has the power to decide what data is shared. The bouncer at a night club may need to know you're over 21, they don’t need to know your address, height, or weight. This is the power of self-sovereign identity.

It's very important we don't allow people to confuse these concepts. Web3 requires a fundamental shared understanding that people are allowed to exist across the spectrum of the metaverse continuum. You are you (even if your a pair of thumbs using a banking app). The people calling for sovereign citizens are not here for that. Wikipedia describes them as "...a loose grouping of litigants, activists, tax protesters, financial scheme promoters and conspiracy theorists..."

Tell everyone, correct anyone, and help build the world of tomorrow. 

!digital identiy used across metaverse --ar 16:9 --test --creative

digital identity used across metaverse --ar 16:9 --test --creative