Economic Self-Determination Practice

Zera Yacob insisted on the right of individuals to think and decide for themselves. Economic self-determination applies this principle by rejecting paternalistic systems where guardians, bureaucrats, or family members control disabled people's money without consent. This practice includes: disabled people managing their own budgets and financial accounts; participatory design of benefits systems with disabled people as decision-makers; peer-to-peer financial literacy among disabled communities; accessible banking and investment options; and legal frameworks protecting disabled people's property rights. Self-determination is not about isolated individual choice but about collective power—disabled people's organizations setting financial agendas, disabled people voting on policies affecting disability income, and disabled people negotiating with employers and institutions from positions of strength. This concept recognizes that disabled people possess the reason and judgment necessary to manage finances, and that economic justice requires trusting and enabling that autonomy.