This introductory paper was originally published in 2019 by the founders of The Rights Market, before the launch of the market in 2021. This paper is arguably the harbinger of the human rights revolution as we know it now. The Rights Market has evolved since then but this original paper is archived here to be used as a reference and as a representation of the original vision of The Rights Market.

Our society is going through rapid transformations with astronomical leaps in the digital, political, social and cultural world. Human lives are increasingly getting intertwined with the digital, giving rise to many new ways of being and changing the fabric of society. The enmeshment and increasing dependence on the digital bring with it many concerns of access, exploitation, behaviour modifications, privacy violations and exclusion. To add to this uncertain future, our society is going through global unrest with many lives lost daily, either because of political conflict, social conflict, structural oppression or poverty. We are seeing a unilateral rise in authoritarian governments who are increasingly violating their democratic structure and giving majoritarian groups a clean chit to cause violence. 

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In this world, it's imperative to ask the question about the reach, access and enforcement of human rights. Have human rights lived up to their potential? Or are they just an intellectual discourse that is immensely disconnected from the ground? With the talk of a 4th generation of human rights which will additionally encompass the digital lives of human beings, should we take a step back and ask ourselves first, whether the first three generations were helpful in letting people live a life of dignity? Is it finally time to think of alternatives to the human rights system? Is it finally time to take the burden off the governments' shoulders and create a system where humans help other humans in protecting our human rights?