Should Linden Lab take Anshe's money and give it to the poor?

I guess this poll shows why there is something like minority rights and representative democracy in places like USA or Europe.

People just voted democratically to rob another person of her money that she earned working up to 100 hours per week. They voted to take away the money that pays for her daughter's pre-school, her health insurance and aging family members' needs in China.

I will keep lobbying for justice, fairness, protection of minorities and basic human rights in Second Life. You can keep flaming and attacking me for "power grabbing" or "pushing special interests". Or you can simply realize that what I am lobbying for is very basic things, that apply to many people. Maybe you think because you see my land or money in SL I am somehow powerful. The truth is that it just makes me very very vulnerable, compared to you who you have your RL job, your money in RL and enjoy protection of hundreds or thousands of RL laws and regulations.

I am not the only one, there are more people who begin to depend on Second Life. And there are other forms of dependency too, other types of stake people have, not related at all to financial aspect. There may soon be people for whom Second Life is the *only* chance to escape poverty, people in poor countries who will fight in Second Life for their survival, literally. They will ask these same questions that I and others have just begun to ask. What will you answer them? Will you tell them to please fuck off and go look for work in their poverty ridden RL? Will you deny them basic rights in what for them might be the only available workplace?

What will you tell people with disabilities, who also exist in Second Life? Will you deny to them justice and minority rights in what for them might be their only social life? Their only place to find companionship, experience mobility, look pretty, fall in love? Will they have to live their lifes in an intransparent police state with an unaccountable government? Or will you force some populist plebiscitary direct voting system on them? How long until the majority would vote out certain groups or lifestyles? How about one vote to turn all PG sims into Mature sims? Or how about one vote to dissolve the W-Hat group? Or one vote against the furries? Or gays? Or you?

We take these issues seriously, because our second lifes matter a lot to us. If you are one healthy person with one good RL job in a wealthy country and simply here to relax, to escape and not to be so serious, we appreciate that. But please recognize the concerns of those who may provide the content and services that might make your game more interesting. Please don't make playing with other people's jobs, their lifes and lifestyles and their human rights part of your game. Please be serious when there is so much at stake for others!

I guess this poll shows why there is something like minority rights and representative democracy in places like USA or Europe.

People just voted democratically to rob another person of her money that she earned working up to 100 hours per week. They voted to take away the money that pays for her daughter's pre-school, her health insurance and aging family members' needs in China.

I will keep lobbying for justice, fairness, protection of minorities and basic human rights in Second Life. You can keep flaming and attacking me for "power grabbing" or "pushing special interests". Or you can simply realize that what I am lobbying for is very basic things, that apply to many people. Maybe you think because you see my land or money in SL I am somehow powerful. The truth is that it just makes me very very vulnerable, compared to you who you have your RL job, your money in RL and enjoy protection of hundreds or thousands of RL laws and regulations.

I am not the only one, there are more people who begin to depend on Second Life. And there are other forms of dependency too, other types of stake people have, not related at all to financial aspect. There may soon be people for whom Second Life is the *only* chance to escape poverty, people in poor countries who will fight in Second Life for their survival, literally. They will ask these same questions that I and others have just begun to ask. What will you answer them? Will you tell them to please fuck off and go look for work in their poverty ridden RL? Will you deny them basic rights in what for them might be the only available workplace?

What will you tell people with disabilities, who also exist in Second Life? Will you deny to them justice and minority rights in what for them might be their only social life? Their only place to find companionship, experience mobility, look pretty, fall in love? Will they have to live their lifes in an intransparent police state with an unaccountable government? Or will you force some populist plebiscitary direct voting system on them? How long until the majority would vote out certain groups or lifestyles? How about one vote to turn all PG sims into Mature sims? Or how about one vote to dissolve the W-Hat group? Or one vote against the furries? Or gays? Or you?

We take these issues seriously, because our second lifes matter a lot to us. If you are one healthy person with one good RL job in a wealthy country and simply here to relax, to escape and not to be so serious, we appreciate that. But please recognize the concerns of those who may provide the content and services that might make your game more interesting. Please don't make playing with other people's jobs, their lifes and lifestyles and their human rights part of your game. Please be serious when there is so much at stake for others!

...For you to make this a "minority" issue is also complete and utter bullshit, and shows how desperate you are. This has nothing to do with your minority status - in fact, in SL, you are the wealthiest player by far - how exactly are you a downtrodden minority? Trying to appeal to the poor and disenfranchized is a common technique that dictators use to gain control. Your use of it here is insulting, and transparent. You should be ashamed...

I don't think they really mean that they want you deprived of your stuff, Anshe. They are just sort of sticking their tongues out because they feel that the poll, particularly in the context of the other you quote, is a slighlty insulting attempt to link two concepts together in a faulty and misleading way. Bit like asking "have you stopped beating your wife".

But you make some valid points about more people beginning to earn in, and depend on SL. Its going to increase, and you are a wild-west pioneer. But there are armed native americans around, and its still dangerous. Its all changing fast, its going to go on for a while, and we cannot stifle that change because a few risk-takers will get hurt.

Personally I think it is still far too soon to do what you are doing, and you must be crazy to risk it. But thats the difference between you and me. In all likelihood you will be one of the first US$ SL millionaires, and I certainly won't. Looks like you're ahead of the pack for now, but you're far from home yet, business girl, and many more wild horses to ride. Go get em, and good luck. But please quit the complaining.

I guess this poll shows why there is something like minority rights and representative democracy in places like USA or Europe.

People just voted democratically to rob another person of her money that she earned working up to 100 hours per week. They voted to take away the money that pays for her daughter's pre-school, her health insurance and aging family members' needs in China.

I will keep lobbying for justice, fairness, protection of minorities and basic human rights in Second Life. You can keep flaming and attacking me for "power grabbing" or "pushing special interests". Or you can simply realize that what I am lobbying for is very basic things, that apply to many people. Maybe you think because you see my land or money in SL I am somehow powerful. The truth is that it just makes me very very vulnerable, compared to you who you have your RL job, your money in RL and enjoy protection of hundreds or thousands of RL laws and regulations.

I am not the only one, there are more people who begin to depend on Second Life. And there are other forms of dependency too, other types of stake people have, not related at all to financial aspect. There may soon be people for whom Second Life is the *only* chance to escape poverty, people in poor countries who will fight in Second Life for their survival, literally. They will ask these same questions that I and others have just begun to ask. What will you answer them? Will you tell them to please fuck off and go look for work in their poverty ridden RL? Will you deny them basic rights in what for them might be the only available workplace?

What will you tell people with disabilities, who also exist in Second Life? Will you deny to them justice and minority rights in what for them might be their only social life? Their only place to find companionship, experience mobility, look pretty, fall in love? Will they have to live their lifes in an intransparent police state with an unaccountable government? Or will you force some populist plebiscitary direct voting system on them? How long until the majority would vote out certain groups or lifestyles? How about one vote to turn all PG sims into Mature sims? Or how about one vote to dissolve the W-Hat group? Or one vote against the furries? Or gays? Or you?

We take these issues seriously, because our second lifes matter a lot to us. If you are one healthy person with one good RL job in a wealthy country and simply here to relax, to escape and not to be so serious, we appreciate that. But please recognize the concerns of those who may provide the content and services that might make your game more interesting. Please don't make playing with other people's jobs, their lifes and lifestyles and their human rights part of your game. Please be serious when there is so much at stake for others!

There may soon be people for whom Second Life is the *only* chance to escape poverty, people in poor countries who will fight in Second Life for their survival, literally. They will ask these same questions that I and others have just begun to ask. What will you answer them? Will you tell them to please fuck off and go look for work in their poverty ridden RL? Will you deny them basic rights in what for them might be the only available workplace?

I'll give you a straight answer, Anshe. No-one should take the actual money you have earned, or the property you own.

But you have earned them by taking risk.

When a part of that risk materialises, or looks like doing so, you cannot then complain about this. You can lobby against it, you can try to change peoples minds, but you cannot claim any unfairness.

The most you can hope for (but not demand) is some pre-notification of the damaging events to which you may have chosen to make yourself vulnerable.

Every entrepreneur must constantly be scanning the horizon for risk, contingency planning for it, looking for ways of reconfiguring to minimise the damage.

I would suggest to you that you face an even bigger danger than telehub erasure by free p2p, which I don't think is that likely. Even if this happens, my guess is that what I mention next may be potentially much more damaging for you.

The effects of such land value changes seem to me to pale into significance compared with tier changes.

You are on notification that LL are considering drastic cuts in tier discount, perhaps even its elimination.

My guess is that the major part of your revenue comes from precisely this tier discount. I'm sure you know the figures are these:
Sim owner pays L$0.0030/m
Smallest landowner pays L$.0098/m

So the cost to you is approximately one third the smallest man.

I think that makes it pretty clear where your rented-sim income comes from.

Also that the elimination of the discount would render this whole business sector unviable at a stroke. Even halving it would probably raise very big questionmarks as to whether it would be worth the candle.

I would suggest that you absolutely must do everything you can to stop this happening, and this is perfectly understandable.

But in view of the long notification you have had, I do hope you have equally long been laying your plans, calculating contingencies, and quietly reshaping things to minimize the damage. Though it would never be in your interest to say so.

My strategy in your place, in the event I might be unable to stop it happening, would be to strive to establish a "compensation climate".

Starting small, I would first support the idea for GOM.

Then I would try to mobilise a popular movement in support, framed around a concept like "justice".

I would next float the compensation idea again in the context of something intermediate like telehubs. In the hope that I could get it some more credence, and establish some popular support and smaller precedents before we come to the real killer - tier discount.

That would be my strategy, and maybe my mind is far more subtle (or devious) than yours. But if this were your strategy too, I could not fault it.

And I wouldn't necessarily feel I was doing this totally selfishly, as there would be other landowners in the same boat, and I would be fighting for them too.

But I, as me, oppose the whole compensation principle. Because my interests are not your interests, and I believe that those who take the rewards of risk must stand up without complaint if and when the risk materialises. And ultimately the only place the compensation could come from is, us, the rest of the players, who didn't get the rewards.

So please, Anshe, stop this pretence that denying you compensation is somehow stealing from you. It isn't true, it isn't fair, it isn't brave, it isn't seemly, and it isn't even (in some ways) honest.

And don't please console yourself that there is anything in me of envy, malice or personal hostility. Its just cool, calm, rational principle. And I still feel much admiration for what you have achieved, and the effort you have put in. I even had a conversation with you once, in another body, and found you to be a likeable and intelligent person. Why ruin such respect by behaving in this way? You could easily be rich, and yet well loved by all but the envious few. It's not impossible. We still wouldn't want you compensated, but you'd get a lot more empathy.

Sheesh...that analogy sucks, btw. I AM Native American (and i have arms!! but not guns!), and was in Anshe's group up until the bussed voters started coming in.

BEST POST OF THE WEEK!!

Thank you for taking the time to clearly and civily express what I suspect many are thinking.