Utopia or Dystopia?

Is SL Utopia or Dystopia?
Most of us, I amsure, are concerned with government and world policies. Sl is one place where we can iron out a sense of a "world view". Yes, I know we are run by a team of people, but for all intents and purposes we are left alone. What would happen if we were alowed to establish our own government? Would it be democratic or would it create a different system of govt - The CyberPolitik? Would it have a Prime Minister, a President, a dictator? Would we have votes or resort to assaination to remove leaders? Would religious fundamentalism become a part of our world?
What laws would apply? What punishments? What ministeries? Would we maintain our Linden benefits if we weren't gainfully employed?
Would we, like many places, submerge ourselves in red tape or would this be an anarchy? Would we become a global "village" or are we just kidding ourselves on that one?
PS. If you don't like my threads, don't read them.

aww. Jig I love your threads lol.

I just had dejavu when I saw the title. Seriously. Spooky.

Im not sure a SL government would be a good idea. There are so many different cultures in SL that, with it being a global thing, it would be very difficult to include all of them.
However, with SL being based in the US it would most likely be a democracy based on the US governmental structure. Which i have no clue about.

I don't even want to think about the whole religion problems it would cause lol.

Because SL is still fundamentally an entertainment-based virtual worlds, politics probably wouldn't work. What usually happen in these that some particular group of people will come into power - usually the people who enjoy politics most - and then stay there forever because organizing an opposition isn't fun for most people and so, in an entertainment-based world, there's no reason to do it. Better to spend your time doing something else. Even if a few people find it fun, there usually won't be enough of them to defeat the incumbents on a majority vote.

You see this very commonly on MUSH type games - if there's a government, most people either agree with it or ignore it, and if they start trying to prevent people ignoring it, the people who don't like it just leave.

Now of course in SL with the money angle, things would be a bit more complicated. If the government had any power they would have to be salaried, as otherwise they would be susceptible to bribery and ulterior motives. But if they are salaried, then effectively they are Lindens, and that's no longer "resident government" by most people's definition.

The other implicit thing I saw in your post is that the "global village" could be desirable. There's mounting evidence that the global village could actually be a bad thing. Usually revolving around the problem that the person who would previously have been the best baker in the village, is now drawing unemployment because the best bread in the _world_ is delivered by truck each day. Ability to contribute is critical to human happiness and communities can't handle that kind of scaling very well.

It would be like Unreal Tournament or Quake.

and I would win!

I personally don't want any type of resident governmnet on a Global Scale. there are oo many people in SL for too many reasons. How would it be formed. How would they be compensated for their time. There would be too many conflicting agendas. A business oriented resident will have a different outlook than an artist, or a purely social/entertainment user. nationality and possibly religin would also get in the way. No thank you. You just make SL more like RL, and that defeats the purpose for me. LL needs to do a better job of running the place, but it's their job ultimately.

Second Life is both and none at the same time. You can find areas that are completely utopian, and you can find areas that are dystopian.

Second Life is a metaverse that walks a fine line between fiction and nonfiction--and because there is so much imagination and freedom involved, many creators can fashion any type of society they like...on a sim per sim basis.

Overall, I think we would have to form a new label for a metaverse like SL. I think if you broke the sim boundaries, SL would be more related to a dystopia...because the term 'utopia' sort of symbolizes an entire culture that is perfect and happy...just the fact that many areas of SL are NOT perfect and happy, SL leans more towards a dystopian society.

Like the other posters said. A grid-wide "government" would inevitably be run by a clique of some kind, and no matter what their agenda, I think guaranteed to make so-called "SL Police" look good by comparison, because they would be imposing their agenda on everyone else. Few people would follow the issues, fewer would vote - it would not be a democracy, it would be a small and ultimately self-referential oligarchy.

The result would be akin to civil war, because many people - quite possibly most people - would reject tehir agenda and tell them to get stuffed.

If it ever happens, I will be very active in the Rebel Alliance.

I see SL as a capitolistic fuedal society. The main lands are soley the control of the empire. Pieces can be bought and sold and the owners have a limited amount of autonomy.

Estate lands are seperate kingdoms or principalities. As long as they pay tribute to the empire and follow a few global dictates, they have much more autonomy but again they follow the capitolist golden rule: whoever has the gold makes the rules.

I don't think SL will ever have a government much more then the anarchy and despotism it now has. There may be a few micronations with a more developed structure but even then some one is paying the empire's tribute (land use fees) and they have the power to obliterate and structure at a whim.

I think a universal governing comitte made up of residents is a really, really bad idea. Individual opt-in governments on private islands, however - can be exciting.

As to whether we're living in a utopia or distopia, I would say neither.

Distopias are negative and undesirable societies, where life is "extremely bad," from things like deprivation, oppression, or terror. Utopias are a perfect socio-political legal system - a perfect society, where life is 'perfect'.

Neither of these things fit. Personally, I think SL mirrors mundane RL much more than it mirrors a utopia or distopia.

From Wikipedia though, this probably fits the best:

"Heterotopia, the "other place", with its real and imagined possibilities (a mix of "utopian" escapism and turning virtual possibilities into reality) — example: cyberspace. Samuel R. Delany's novel Trouble on Triton is subtitled An Ambiguous Heterotopia to highlight that it is not strictly utopian (though not dystopian). The novel offers several conflicting perspectives on the concept of utopia."

I think it's already happened and everybody is in the Rebel Alliance.

Linden Lab is the government.

"John has a blue ball. The chair is against the wall"

Sometimes I think it's a Myopia.
None of us are enabled to see very far ahead.

Anarchy, I want Anarchy!

OMG, LOL. That was great!

I'm for Anarchy,as long as we all do it together.

Ah good, your politics thread is here. I look forward to your religion one. What time will that one be posted here on Resident Answers?

At exactly 5:03

I might not be around then. Can you leave a post for me please?:

Global SL 'resident government' would have to get past Caledon's gunships first...

I'd rather welcome it, actually... ever seen dozens of psyched NeoVictorians on a hostile intruder or two? Hoo boy that's entertainment!

I've found grid governments rather... unfulfilling, actually.

Supposedly there were to be fines for offending acts in the CDS sims, and try as I might, I couldn't get anyone to give me a court summons, or even a common ticket for prim littering.

I really wanted their court summons for my wall! *sniff* ...they let me down...

Though, admittedly my prim littering (which I DENY in front of the CDS' highest court!!!1111) was only one prim. But it had our flag on it, and a somewhat racy picture of a furry...

Alleged prim, actually. Yep, that's it. I think I'd better get a slawyer. I wonder if they would let me run for chancellor from CDS jail? What if I bought them some goreans to pay tribute or something?

Just musing out loud.

"Ah good, your politics thread is here. I look forward to your religion one. What time will that one be posted here on Resident Answers?"

When your mommy has tucked you up in bed and you are alseep, Raymond. I dont want to make you think too hard

I guess everyone doesn't love Raymond after all

Yeah, "Slick" tend to get monotonous. Kinda like the boy sitting behind you in class who just wanna be the jock. Boring.

I want a system following The Icelandic Commonwealth, 930-1264.

Then I would have you lick a red hot poker to see if you are telling the truth. Maybe even duck a few "hellions" into the local river? Let's brand a few females while we are at it. Uh oh - this starts to sound like our own dear Gor.

Do some research first. Then post. Thank you.