An Open Question regarding Nations.

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It's an inworld newspaper, subscription based (no ads) so I don't give it out for free on the web. If you want to read it, there are a few vendors inworld or you can pay ahead (L$25/issue) to Redaktisto Noble and it will be delivered to you. Thanks for asking!

I'll be sure to give it a read. Sounds interesting.

All forms of rule are rule by nincompoops. The system of government merely describes how those nincompoops are chosen. With that said, I now feel that the best nincompoop to be ruled over is oneself.

Given the collapse of the idealistic Neualtenburg (support of minorities, valid legal system) into the dystopian Neufreistadt (behind-the-scenes oligarchy, kangaroo trials, state-sponsored piracy), I think it's evident that virtual-world governments and legal systems should be approached very carefully, whether they're democracies or not.

~Ulrika~

Winter is coming, and the idea of a Victorian Chri$tmas in Caledon has its, ah, certain appeals.

So... should I change the ground to snow textures this winter? If so, for how long?

This sort of 'not a big deal' issue is the precise sort of thing that fuels drama - it may not sound like much, but anytime anyone "loses" with regard to a choice they feel bad. I don't want people to feel bad - it's not good business.

Snow on the ground for <December|January|?> *may* be the first case for landed gentry exercising some control over their destiny: each sq. m. controlled = 1 vote.

I'll bounce the idea off residents when I get back.

If things go well I may open up some other possibilities; if voting on the snow issue proves to be a dramafest, it's over.

Speaking as a fur, and a Caledon resident (the latter I value more than the former) you cannot honestly call the furry sims 'micro-nations'. There is no OVERALL theme (other than the AV's), next to no organization (they range from anarchies to utter dictatorships, usually heavily dominated by friends of friends). They are accumulations of folks with ONE similar interest...maybe two tops...more akin to social clubs and clubhouses than nations. Piss someone off and you can find out just how fast you are unwelcome.

Caledon and I would venture to say, the elven and Gorean sims (as uniformaly dismal as my dealings with the latter have been) tend towards greater organization. Howver, the difference comes into play is acceptance. Sure, I could go and hang out in an elven sim, but to BE a truly accepted part of it, I'd have to be an elf... To even be allowed INTO a gorean sim without abuse/rudeness/crudity I would have to change my AV to human. Caledon is unique (in my experience) in that it combines modern-day tolerance with familiar and comforting historical social structures and a much-lacking modern-day politeness. My external appearance does not matter, who my partner is does not matter, what matters is how I interact with the community itself. Its far less superficial than many of the communities you mentioned. We have folks we like and do not like, without becoming an instant pariah like you would in other communities.

Now, I am NOT a mover or shaker in Caledon...never been Steward, no ambassador to other sim nations...didn't even move in until the 3rd sim went up (Caledon Highlands). I am just a small businessman/inventor and homeowner...but you know, I can walk around Caledon and be uniformly and politely greeted...even by residents I have yet to meet. I have NEVER been greeted by strangers in any of the other nations you mentioned when I visited. We had a griefer a while back....the landowner froze him and we turned it into an impromptu social gathering to look at her new and rather ugly garden sculpture. We've utilized our theme to develop a COMMUNITY that we wish to see grow and is NOT insular like the furs (go there in a human AV sometime and listen to the wails of Hyooman), Goreans (go in a non-human AV and watch the abuse) or to a far-lesser extent, the elven.

Sure, Desmond talks a LOT about his lands (advertising as you call it), but we have made something there....all us residents that we are proud of. And there is more to being a micronation than just an insular, us-only (furs, goreans) enclave, and that is a functional community spirt. If I may ask, have YOU done anything equivalent to Desmond? Something worth evaluating for its interactions ingame? If so, post! We can discuss that too!

RE: Snow -

Mother Nature doesn't take votes. But, people can decide whether they want weather in general in sims.

RE: Democracy -

So many people want Democracy because they labour under a misunderstanding that Democracy is a great social cure. It's not. What Americans really want is a recapitulation of the fruits of the USA in SL - the USA being a Republic under the Rule of Law with Democratically Elected Professional Officials, Checks and Balances, and Liberty and Justice for All. (I hear sniggering.)

Except SL is too small for even the original Federal/States government and too diverse, our technology allows us to dispense with professional representatives (Except for Torley), people in general are no more skilled nor educated about the law and the implications of what they want the government to do than they were 200 years ago, and no-one's life, livelihood, food, health, legacy are at stake. Some people have some of those at stake but no-one has all of them.

Personally, I'd prefer not to have a democracy ingame. Based on RL, we see democracies end up being (much as the USA is) a moneyed man's playground with special interests buying legislation (note the support for repealing the inheritance tax that according to the GAO affects a fraction of 1% of the people, yet vehement opposition to a minimum wage increase after over 10 yrs without one). If I was just FORCED to have an RL-modeled government ingame, I would select a euro-social democratic model that still supports the people and regulates industry to a pure democracy.

Democracies just lead to conservatism and its handmaiden of corruption, so ingame I'd prefer a stable autocratic model that with rules FAIRLY enforced on the citizenry (for example, in Caledon, we are handed the rules upfront and those rules are followed by BOTH parties and all is well). I don't worry about a bunch of ingame capitalists influencing Desmond...the rules were handed to me before I moved in and they are enforced...after reading the drama about the Neualtenburg/Neufriestadt democracy debacle having rogue elements promise the moon and take over to do a purge is the LAST thing I would want to be a part of.

Call it a modified benevolent dictatorship in which we all have a stake (as we do have a resident Steward), but I prefer knowing where I stand as I do in Caledon.

cool! thanks for the info--it does sound interesting

Sounds to me like you'd enjoy being be a part of Port Neualtenburg, which is not a Democratic Government at all but ostensibly an artist's guild with me serving as the Medici like benevolent benefactor.

*sniffs* Is that the smell of 'sour grapes'? Or could it be 'burning martyr'? Such similar odours!

Despite the brickbats thrown our way, a quick read of our forums or a visit to Neufreistadt sim reveals a thriving democratic community (and micronation).

One of our current tasks illustrates a number of the points that others have made in this thread regarding the lack of micronations (and, in particular, democracies) on the grid.

We are currently planning our expansion to a second sim. Compared to Caledon's growth over the last few months you could see this as a failure for democracy; it has taken Neufreistadt much longer to make a much more modest expansion. One reason for this is that the democratic process is much slower than the autocratic method by which Caledon, Dreamland etc are able to expand. The democratic process involves legislation, parliamentary debate, collaborative working, quite a few meetings and is painstaking and (relatively) slow. As a private island owner I would be able to shortcircuit as much of this process as I want to: it can be my vision, my layout, my theme even if I sub-contract part of the work to others.

This is just an example of the 'pain in the arse' factor that others have commented on. Democracy can be a pain in the arse, but Aliasi had it right earlier on in this thread, it's better than the alternatives! At least with a democracy you can get rid of the buggers. One further reason why people may not feel the need for democratic government in Second Life is, as Gxeremio points out, moving home is a much easier proposition than in RL so shopping around for the kind of neighbourhood, community and benevolent dictator that suits you is fairly straightforward. It would be great if other democratic, self-governing communities were formed across the grid. How can we encourage that develoment?

I think that would be quite interesting as well!

My first guess would be: make it easier. Less talk and meetings, and more action and use of the group voting tools (or Ulrika's proportional voting method thing).

Second would be: Define the limits to your democracy. Especially if a micronation gets into financial trouble.



Personally, I'd love to see more democracies. Just think of all the cheap used sims^Z Ah, I'd love to set up diplomatic relations with some new democracies!



I'm still disappointed that nobody else linked their flags and put them up here.



Come on folks, Neualtenburg's got what, that light blue flag and also the chicken crest, what's Neufreistadt using these days?

Even Ravenglass has got the signature raven sigil. What have you got? Post your flag!



Heh. Every time I read Neufreistadt I read it to myself with a heavy accent. Does anyone else do that? It sounds like NeaoufrEIschtagDT! in my mind. I really enjoy it every time I read it, not kidding in the least!

Not to rain on your parade, but I wonder if the formula for weighting votes might not be a little harder..

We'll talk about it later.


- d.

Yeah, truth to tell it's one of the reasons I've avoided the whole thing so far.

"One vote per individual" breaks down fast, because one "real life" person may control a few properties in Caledon under different Second Life names. It's relatively common. The issue is probably a lot larger than even I am aware of; in some cases I only knew because I was told about it months after the fact.

Tying votes to sq. meters of land is one (weak) way of removing that issue, but far from perfect. I'm open to voting ideas, but my biggest idea is to simply not allow voting if it makes for trouble.

The *only* reason for voting at all, is to understand how to make Caledon a better place in general. Maybe I'll just do a customer satisfaction survey instead, and draw my own conclusions.

That betrays a lack of understanding, at least with respect to some of the Gorean sims specifically. While I could certainly level some criticisms against them, "lack of political structure" is definitely not one I would choose! Perhaps "too much political structure" would apply in some cases.

I'll be happy to script the vote boxes...

if ($chanceTakashiWins == TRUE) {
 $results = "Snow!";
}

It's not who votes that counts...

By the way... I'm snowing my slice of the Highlands come late November whether the ground is green or white. But you *could* save me a few prims.

I have some crazy idea involving lots of non-bouncy snow prims dropped from some altitude, and that disable physics as soon as they collide with the ground...

Not that I have the prim allotment for something like this, but it's a nice dream...


- d.

Without this being in any sense a vote, as a resident of Caledon Highlands I would be surprised if there were not snow on the ground for a couple of months during winter.

say, mid December to mid February.

Paul.

Yes, I prefer to know where I stand in things. Having one set of rules made by one person provides a measure of stability. And if the rules get too onerous, one can emmigrate elsewhere.

I need to get back over to Port Neuraltenburg, one of the stores had a number of steins, and one of those would look good at my home.

One thing I would want to see before I trusted a democracy is term limits. You can call it a democracy but when the same individual / party wins every election, over and over, without fail...I suspect manipulation.

And yes, other nations need to post their flags! Even my small business has a flag of its own, flying just under the Caledon flag atop my store in Port Caledon.

Perhaps for the goreans, but he is DEAD ON for furry.

Yes, she's right about the furries. And as for the elves, I'm really not sure because honestly, despite being a dark elf in-world, I've spent much more time among the Goreans than among the elves.

I don't know about that, but expect the lake between the Observatory and the Academy to be frozen... and one can dream of a fluffy white ground cover that goes >squitch< >squitch< when you walk through it.

Frozen lake.....ICE SKATING! Desmond MUST bring winter at least to the Highlands!

Perhaps the Artist's Guild of Port Neualtenburg (long skilled in the arts of Weihnachten) could be induced in helping out Caledon in the art of Christmas merrymaking.