Civil Society

Perhaps we should look at non-governmental institutions for ideas about decision making methods and procedures to use in the voluntary groupings we form in Second Life.

"Civil society or civil institutions refers to the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations or institutions which form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force backed structures of a state (regardless of that state's political system). " - Wikipedia

There have been a lot of ideologies and definitions of "civil society" floating around in the RL for decades. The term has almost lost its meaning in the real world when you now have governments openly funding "civil society" programs in other countries, often as a form of intervention or a back-up to intervention.

The Wikipedia definition is only one. Some think civil society is everything outside the state. Others think it is a larger concept meaning a state functioning with the checks and balances and feedback of civic institutions. Some people include business in civil society. Others don't. Some put labour unions in. Others don't. Some think it is just all NGOs, though NGOs are a very specific tax status entity in most countries, not just all civic groups.

The methods civil society groups use for decision-making are the same as any government officers or labour unions or churches, for that matter (some put religious groups in civil society, some don't, depending on their biases).

Roberts Rules of Order has stood the test of time.

I'm definitely for civil society appearing in SL. Currently we have a medieval guild society with a horrific mixture of socialism, oligarchy, conservative lifestyle movements that keep some citizens in subjugation -- you name it. It's a bizarre bizarre but doesn't add up to a robust civil society able to serve as a buffer against the state, as a watchdog on the state, and as an incubator of a future better state, for that matter. Currently, civil society in SL didn't come into being yet. There are a few groups here and there. Thinkers. Or Awakening Avatars. Or whatever loose groups based on interest and activity one can find. But there aren't really strong, representative, grassroots groups or movements. IT's very hard to get to them due to how atomized the population is, how disempowered, and how unmotivated they are to make a society given that they are here mainly for entertainment, not making a world.

More groups are needed -- a Better Business Bureau, a Consumer Advocates Association, groups to lobby for different causes (like New Continent Pioneers advocating the one telehub, etc.). These need to come into being if we are to grow not only beyond the GNP of a Suriname or a Belarus, but grow beyond their abysmal states of society involving mainly the sex trade, mafias, oligarchs, etc.

I'm invoking Kanahoe's Law here: From now on, anyone who refers to Wikipedia as an authority on politics, economics, sociology, psychology, history, or art - even if they do refer to the London School of Economics - automatically shuts down a thread.



I think the idea of using RL voluntary or non-profit groups (so-called PVO's) as a template for SL grouping issues is a good one. But that's an internal issue to the groups themselves. I'm less clear on how these various groups would interact in a larger, "global" sense. As Prokofy pointed out, there's not a lot of consensus on the concept of "civil society" and how it would function. What's your idea?

I don't think we can actually have a govenment here because a government is the decision making body that directs the actions of a state, and a state is the agency with a monopoly on the legitimate use of force in a area, and we are not able to use force on one another here, since force doesn't mean push guns or being denied access to a computer game, force means killing people, injuring people, torturing people, imprisoning people and the other means that the state uses to compel obediance to the dictates of a government.

Since we can't form governments here, since we cannot use physical coercion here, our actions and interactions in the Second LIfe virtual environment are voluntary. Hence, it would make more since to me to look at organizations that are voluntary in nature as models and guides for the organizations we form here, because our organizations are intrinsically voluntary here.

There are a number of people here who want the program to be altered to allow for the creation of different organizational structures here; for example, changes to the group mechanism have been proposed to allow greater control of a group's assets on the part of those who actually paid for the land, in contrast to the present situation, in which officers can sell the land and give the short end of the stick to the resident who put forth the financing. Other changes to allow some form of control of use of land and other resources on the part of those other than the titled owner's of the resources have been proposed.

The desires for such changes do not represent an attempt to use force against others, and even if they did the use of force in the virtual enironment is a physical impossibility. They are not born from a desire to impose some kind of unpleasant stifling set of rules on those who do no wish to be a part of them. These desires for change are a desires to increase the power of individuals to enter into aggreements in a way supported by the program which they are unable to do as the program is currently written.

The goal of increasing the ability of individuals to voluntarily enter into new and different types of social structures here is greatly hampered by being associated with government and the horrible imagery it rightfully conjurs up in the minds of many people.

Volunteer organizations can contribute significantly to RL civil society. In RL and in SL we have to factor in the reality that most of us are short of time. RATE is an excellent example. In my opinion RATE qualifies as a volunteer organization that can contribute to a civil society in SL. Lots of goodwill and organizational talent, but keeping up the momentum required more volunteer resources. We might have to shift to a for-profit model in order to attract qualified people to do this work. For example, I recently met a resident who is interested in being a professional mediator in SL. Hopefully she'll attend Pathfinder's meeting today.

Threads may now be closed by referring people to the Kanahoe's Law article in Wikipedia .

I think you're right, Invect, that in a situation where you have "no government" or "too oppressive government" civil society organizations must come into being to protect people's interests and rights.

It's good if more solid associations could appear in SL. To complain, as people do in RL, that "we can't get enough volunteers" or "there aren't people willing to do the work" doesn't cut it -- getting, engaging, and keeping volunteers in an art and can be worked at with good results, like any kind of endeavor.

Often elitists cite "professionals" to get around pesky "non-professionals" who raise civil society concerns. "Professionals" to handle sensitive issues like mediation, when hired byh the government, many not have the trust of the public and may not be successful in establishing integrity and authority for that reason. People with RL skills can be useful in SL, but this is not a place where the currency of the realm of SL should be spent in the often very misleading way it can be (we have no way of checking someone's claims of a
RL credential if we also wish to protect their privacy in SL and right to keep SL and RL separate).

I'm not sure hiring a professional is a solution, and it should never be forth as something that has to displace or undercut or overwhelm grassroots efforts. A professional already "gotten to" by one grouping in the game and "tweaked" as to impressions and priorities will definitely not be acceptable to the public.

heh, so many delete votes.... But then what can you expect when your law swims against Wikipedia as the popular authority?

I don't know if this is worth the reply...but now that the SL Mediators group exists, with my name as the group 'leader', anyone wishing to check my professional credentials (e.g., my licensure/degrees) can contact me and ask. Whether or not I give them access will depend on why and how they ask. Frankly, and how can I put it, my 'worth' or 'ability' as a mediator has little to do with 'credentials', and I doubt that anyone asking for credentials will be affected in mood or opinion by actually seeing them.

This is a great idea Neal. I feel that civil organizations could very well, if ran fairly, improve the society of Second Life.

The Better Business Bureau was an excellent idea, I hope someone sets this up one day.