So you don't want a government in SL?

Please defend the following oft-repeated claims on the subject:

1. Government puts people in power, power corrupts, therefore government means corrupt people telling us what to do.

2. The Lindens are slightly dim and easily swayed by the masses. In fact, it is conceivable that one person could get the Lindens to make her President of SL just by asking for the job; so dozens of people must post aggressive responses whenever the subject is even hinted at, in order to scare these Lindens into holding off.

3. The Lindens are our govenment and that's good enough for me. This gives them power of course, but since they also get paychecks they are protected from corruption.

Allie

Not necessarily in favor of government, but definitely opposed to insanity.

I'm beginning to think that lack of power corrupts, too.

uh... you see it all the time in first life in small and big ways? there is a reason "government corruption" is idiomatic.

ll is swayed by the mass, but they aren't dim. if they were dim, then they'd make bad governors.

generally, the lindens have done a good job, and this whole corruption thing is a distraction from the task at hand. corruption happens, work to minize it. anyone who thinks the lindens are incorruptable are kidding themselves.

I would love to see a Government. It could be fun. I would love to do it but my suggestion will rule me out of it. They can make rules but some rules will not effect any thing. Some may. Like Flying. Maybe a vote will be taken that no one can fly in a place. Type of shops that can be in a place. It could be fun. Some people may not like it but hay it is a society. The only people that can be elected would be Land owners. People like me as a basic member could not be a elected person.

I would need to rephrase the syllogism by removing the distracting concept of corruption:
Government puts people in power, power within government entails regulation of what we may or may not do, therefore government means people regulating what we may or may not do.

I don't worry about corrupt people. I worry about *which* people. Quite simply, I do not trust the community at large in that function.

I take the forums as a telling example of what issues the SL community could and would put onto the table, and how they might legislatively react to those issues. I would not want a non-corrupt but reactive mob regulating action in SL. I would not want to be regulated by people elected by such a mob. Even if we grant to a player government the best of intentions and divorce from corruption, I would trust neither the warm nor hot hearts of the collective community, when cool heads should always prevail.

The only thing a government knows how to do -- the only thing it *can* do -- is construct, enforce, administer, and interpret law. I'm often reminded of a line from Lord Of The Flies when people talk of resident government. Kids in a plane crash on a deserted island, and the take-charge teen organizing everyone says: "And we need rules. Lots and lots of rules." Many articulate people will justifyably argue that the Lindens impose not enough rules, nor adequately enforce those extant. Nonetheless, I prefer their known regulatory parsimony over the glandular hysteria we regularly witness from the residents.


I am an anti-government advocate who would heckle such an anti-government argument. I neither believe the Lindens to be dim, nor apt to appoint a person president for dubious cause, nor easily scared by a ranting populus. I fear such characteristics more from the collective community than I do from LL. That's one reason why I prefer Linden rule.


The Lindens are our government and that's good enough for me because they own the place. They rightfully have power because of it, and have greater motivation to exercise that power wisely than do the residents.

Certainly they are not immune from corruption or ill decisions because of their paychecks. But I would contend they are less susceptable to these because their business depends on a functioning community.

Whether the rest of us regard SL as a game or as an ur-metaverse, it remains an elective experience for all residents. Failures from regulatory decisions, which might arguably affect LL's bottom line, is less an option for them than it is for us. We can afford failure in governance; they cannot.

Thank you, Vestalia. Your points are all well taken.

The curious thing, which I found you were alluding to, are the paradoxes involved in a lot of these statements, Allie. Which is another reason why I embrace contradictions.

It could also be said that the Lindens are quick to listen to Resident desires and easily swayed to incorporate the suggestions we've brought up en masse into future rollouts of the program and the gridverse.

I don't think they're so much scared sometimes as curious and cautious, seeing what Residents say and do so the Lindens can learn from us. Which is a good thing.



Oh this is great! LOL. I really like the way you said this!

Eh, just like I can't slam all clubs, I can't slam all governments. I'm a frequent visitor to several related inworld projects which have been brought up many times on the Forums, and I like to hang out there. I appreciate seeing different takes on the matter, and Aimee had the great multigovt. idea recently which I really have to cheer on, because it's exactly representative of the diversity we enjoy in SL.

For every one who says "History repeats" there'll be someone who argues "History rhymes" and then someone who says "History chimes like crimes on a dime". And WTH does that mean??? Which is exactly how some people feel about govt., 'cuz it just doesn't appeal to them nor do they wish to get involved. We can throw in metalogic and cultural differences and mangle it up in one big stew, but that doesn't change the fundamental building blocks (i.e. atoms as part of compounds).

So, in here, superstructure is *always* Linden-based, but below that on the tier, we have all these choices.

If anyone's seen The Prisoner, it has some curious ideas about authority which I'd like to see implemented or at least "role-played" in SL. More info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner