Scarcity in SL
Thursday, Oct 6, 5 pm SL time,
SLCC Thinker's, Bethel (156, 82)
All real world economies are based on the prevalence of scarcity. Yet in SL
scarcity is, well, scarce. Residents of SL don't need food, clothing,
shelter, health care, or transportation to survive. They don't need anything
at all. So how can SL be said to have an economy? Can an economic system be
successful when it is premised on the buying and selling of pure luxuries,
on ownership of things that are not really things (they don't exist in
tangible form), and on currency which is not supported by any promise of
exchange value? I don't mean for this topic to get too technical--we can
just discuss why we continue to sell and buy when we are motivated only by
want and not at all by need. Finally, consider how SL might be different if
avatars felt real need--hunger, cold, sickness, etc. or if there simply
weren't any $L.
Spengler Roo