At a TWCF x POSTHOC salon in New York City this summer, we hosted a conversation about human flourishing and the security of home between Templeton World Charity Foundation President Andrew Serazin, Posthoc founder + CEO Susan MacTavish Best , and Medici Land Governance CEO Ali El Husseini, whose mission is to secure and record land title via blockchain technology. "The mission of the company is to bring financial inclusion and to unlock and create value out of land by securing it through giving it title, giving that property right to owners," says Ali. "Human flourishing starts by feeling safe, feeling at home."
The endlessly curious crowd who gathered at Posthoc's SoHo venue were shocked to learn that not only was chain of property title a massive issue around the world, particularly in LMICs, but is also a huge problem at home in New York City where approximately 3,000 people lose their homes every year because of title issues. As part of Templeton's mission to understand the relationship between economics and flourishing, we explored the topic of using new applications of technology to promote human flourishing, and it soon became apparent that the issue of securing one's home is deeply primal and very front-of-mind for most people.
"Human flourishing starts by feeling safe, feeling at home."
- We don't often hear about property rights as human rights, and yet the security of having a home that can't be taken from you is so essential. "Blockchain title deeds are immutable. so no one can steal your home," Ali says. "The most valuable thing you might ever own in your life, your property is yours. That's a human right."
- When human beings are not locked into focusing on our survival needs, like securing property, we tend to instead focus on what enhances our flourishing. Examples given in the conversation included pursuit of education, creative expression, relationship-building and being able to self-actualize by pursuing our dreams instead of constantly having to worry about meeting basic survival needs.
- For those living in poverty, being able to unlock the capital secure land title can provide is a form of financial inclusion that could result in being able to get a loan to start a business, "Those living below the poverty line are the most vulnerable, and those are the people who most need to unlock that capital. We estimate there's $9 trillion of locked capital in real property that clean title can create access to."
- Ambassador Chola Milambo Ph.D. and permanent United Nations representative of the Republic of Zambia joined the conversation to discuss how Medici's mission is playing out in his home country.
Learn more about Medici's work and hear all the fascinating Posthoc conversations on the podcast. And a special thanks to the very well-read Ambassador Nemanja Stevanović of Bosnia and his minister of Justice joining us for the evening too!
