Would be nice but... if the domains will be free, history will repeat itself. for example, most of the .ga domains got taken over because a lot of people abused them.
It's not really though. Sure, you can AXFR the root nameservers and run your own copy, but that's not really decentralizing its infrastructure. 10 of the 13 root servers are managed by US entities, including the US Army and DISA.