In-World Government

I know we've talked about it for a while, but do you think there is still the need for some form of user-run government?

no

Not grid-wide, no.

Local, voluntary governments, perhaps - see the attempts to make a Blumfield Resident's Association, Neualtenburg, various semi-formalized groupings of friends or associates around the grid, etc, etc, etc.

I am not sure this is where to voice an opinion on this, but here goes. You are talking about a government, I am not sure a full blown government is needed, but I do see a need for some sort of zoning.

Example: A newbie comes to the community with all the enthusiasm of becoming a good citizen of SL, owning land, and someday setting up a shop to start a business. She/he buys their first land after looking over the available properties, assuming from what they see from the research that they are moving into a good neighborhood. Then after a few days, land is bought around them, the nearest neighbors turn out to be sex pushers, or their neighbors built these huge four story walls that block out the rest of the neighborhood. Not quite what they had expected.

Now the only choice the newbie has is to sell her/his land to a broker so they can move out, and find suitable residence. No one in their right mind will want the land for the modifications done on the other properties, the people with the sex shop sure doesn't want it. So, the newbie is stuck in the squaller until they can find better digs.

Many newbies, and current residence don't have the means to be able to buy huge chunks of land, and govern them as they would like to, so they can make a nice place for people to live without the smutty sex sales people, and the people who are just there to aggrevate others.

I would like to take my hat off to the many people who setup marketing centers for the sale of goods, and services; and those that create sims for normal people to live in.

My point here is, why should a newbie have to give up their $1L per m2 land because of community unpleasantries, when, with zoning, they might have been able to make a choice as to which type of neighborhood they could live in before they make a mistake of buying worthless land.

So, the government thing could work for some aspects of the community. Just an idea that I had thought about after I purchased my land, and got screwed by others who moved in and ruined the neighborhood.

Ok, I'm ready for those loud mouth, no ethics, heartless, and short-lived citizens who think they know it all. So, blast away.

Barb

Just so everyone knows, saying this almost goes against my core beliefs, in my first life that is. I believe personal liberty to be the right of everyone, and no one should be able to impose their morals on anyone else.
That being said the above scenerio seems quite plausable and very likely to turn someone off of second life, which I think would be a crime. I agree that zoning is important, especially, and maybe only for newbies, because once you know your way around, you should be able to protect yourself. Not only do I agree that first buy should have strict zoning regulations, but I also feel that new members of our community should be made familiar with this during their initial orientation to second life. I think that all first buy locations should have a clear rating, and that the immediate area they are located in should share that rating, even if it is simply all adjacent plots of land share the same rating.
Perhaps a learning module where the new resident uses find and land for sale to find a hypothetical first buy, and there should be clear ratings on there. This way when the time comes to make their purchase they will have been well versed on the rating system and it's implications, and will hopefully be an informed consumer.
Hope that this helps, it is my first post. I am a newbie myself, thankfully this did not happen to me, as I met an angel, my first second life friend. She tought me what I initially needed to know and even loaned me my first plot of land to build on for as long as I would like. If everyone were like her, none of this would be necessary, alas, she is one of a kind.

I think Neualtenburg would be a good fit for you both, and anyone with similar concerns. Take time to read the wiki and feel free to visit.

http://www.neualtenburg.info/
http://wiki.neualtenburg.info/

Nooooo.. from one guy who came from a Gov't style community. SL is a breath of fresh air.

No, there is no way to make a grid-wide resident-run government work for everyone, and it would cause more problems than it would solve. There should always be some space (probably most of the grid) in which landowners can do what they like.

Having said that, when residents band together to create special organizations in certain areas, that is also a good thing. People who want the protection of zoning should try to work with those groups.

I do wish there were more PG areas, though. The mature areas are fine, but right now if anyone wanted to use SL for a real-life purpose (such as education, business meetings, business training, or art presentations) they'd have to buy a private island in order to avoid offending many of their clients, when all they really need is a little patch of ground. I'm not saying that there should be fewer mature areas, just that there should be a PG continent or large island or something like that. I guess I'm a little frustrated at this point that SL is still just "playing around" when it has the potential to make a difference in the world.

no

No.....and I'd request that this thread be moved to the SL In World Political Science forum. Let's try and keep them all together.