I could be wrong, but I don't think that kind of technology (including physical infrastructure) can be developed and implemented by collections of individuals, not at Internet scale. The only groups that could create a technology that the world's people could use independent from corporate or government control are corporations and governments, and where's their motivation these days? Corporations want to corral us like whales in a krill feeding frenzy, and governments want to control us, not free us.
Even the internet that we have, developed by the US government and universities, only became the internet that we have by serendipity. I Can Haz Cheezburger was not anticipated by DARPA, BBN et al.
Scaling mesh is a very hard problem, though, it's hardly just a matter of plugging in more devices. Networks over the existing Internet - like Freenet or Tor - are much more viable, in my opinion.
Even the internet that we have, developed by the US government and universities, only became the internet that we have by serendipity. I Can Haz Cheezburger was not anticipated by DARPA, BBN et al.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBN_Technologies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet#History