The Republic of Second Life

The idea of governments and different socio-economic zones that would eventually develop their own culture is very interesting and I think it would add a level of realism to the game that it is currently missing. At its current inception secondlife is more like a sprawling city than a country or world. The main reason all this would not work though is that any organised society must me managed/governed by a set of rules. If rules are broken then there must be punishments for the infractions carried out by individuals. Punishment is a type of force and the use of force inevitably can lead to imprisonment and or killing and the loss of life (permanent loss of life, not being tp'ed back to waterfront). Without the fear of losing your life or freedom there is no mechanism in place to force individuals to conform to the rule sets of a society. In SL the only people who have this kind of power are the linden's (our benevolent dictatorship). They can put someone in solitary isolation sims (prison) or they can ban the person permanently from SL (death). To give these powers to players would lead to the corrupt use of that power which would lead to a state of socio-economic destabilization which would lead to anarchy in the streets. The whole idea of governments is quaint, but if I don't fear that government for the aforementioned reasons then they would be nothing more than a silly little club of self-important egomaniacs (kind of like highschool governing bodies).

Having different currencies with varying exchange rates would help a few individuals make a lot of money, but it would create economic ghettos throughout the world as well. One currency for all works just fine as long as you capital gains folks don't horde the cheap Linden waiting for the best sell to make yourself a profit.

I agree that, with the formation of a governing body, corruption would be inevitable. But second life isn't enitrely like the nations and governments we have in first life. It is a very unique climate for economic and social behaviour. There's no sickness, no real death, no consequences for actions (unless you violate the TOS). It is a world where (almost) anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

In the past, when people have told me "Anything is possible" irl, I have always retorted "Except cutting down a tree with a banana." But you can even do that in second life.

It would be a shame to see all of that go from the game, because despite it being totally unorganised and having many shortfalls for those who actually want to do something productive, it is still a great concept for entertainment.

I think it would a good experiment to trial different forms of government in different areas of second life, then have the representatives from those mock governments convene to discuss the results of their organisation/rule.

If a working model for governing second life were to be established, I believe it would be unparallel to any form of government enacted in first life. If for no other reasons than a) you cannot die; and b) you cannot force another player to give up their land.

Access to land and the resources therein have historically been the founding points of nations. When humans stopped being nomadic tribes and started to settle in one area, grow farms, build houses and permanent structures, it became necessary to defend that land because humans can die and when a human dies they can no longer own land.

However in second life, we have that right to land and right to life as a fundamental guarentee that no one can take from us (at least not permanently). So effectively a government in this sense would be looking at promoting industry and the standard of living for the already protected citizens. Much like the people who reside in an impenetrable castle.

Which brings me to the idea of governance through education.

If you cannot forcibly take life and land, then the next means to colonise a foreign region is through culture, education, or economic influence.

Consider this:

A region or group that requires some rite of passage to join. Once in the group the player has access to educational facilities, tutorials, free samples, and the like. You could have guilds set up to teach players how to create specific items for sale (eg shoes, clothes, furniture, scripts), or even just items for personal enjoyment. Disclosing this secret knowledge to an 'outsider' would result in the player being evicted from the group/region. By offering limited places for the courses on offer, the output of production would not be so large as to flood the market with high quality products and subsequently destroy small businesses owned by those outside the group. Instead, students would be required to sell their wares in the area designated by the governing body, and this in turn could be used to promote other activities or partner businesses/clubs/etc.

Of course, enforcing a trade secret practices act would be as easy as evicting a player from the group. But actually proving their guilt would be a different problem, since there is no limitation to movement of intellectual property in the game, or way to monitor everyone's conversations 24/7. Effectively it would require a big brother type regime, which is just impossible (imo) to implement on second life with the current engine. Not to mention it would raise severe ethical concerns.

So really, governments would need to rely upon loyalty of their citizens to keep industry regulated. There are a number of ways this could be achieved. Just off the top of my head I'm thinking: free/cheap store rental prices for citizens, open forums for everyone to express their ideas and concerns, low-lag entertainment and regular gatherings (either purely for enjoyment or as an industry conference).


Hell, the more I rant on about this kind of stuff the more I'm considering moving up to a paid account and trying this out on some land of my own.

If anyone is interested in what I've been getting at, I'd be more than happy to help out in founding a government (any type) in SL. My screen name is Penny Tank.

I'm not for any new government! However who know what will happen in SL ver4.0

If it does.....maybe time to be a lobbist. What's a government without a little corruption going on all the time to influenece things.

Republic huh!

You want a government? Buy an entire region.

if they put governement into SL they will have to allow for more lenient combat rules to allow for the assinations.



Adjusting My Scope,
Neurosis