In the "Further Geekifying Politics" category, right now (literally), there is a heated debate going on among some members of the Second Life Democratic Party about whether the group should participate in a global "Liberalism vs. Conservatism" debate in-world. (Incidentally, one of the debate planners is the coordinator for Mike Gravel's in-world campaign... lol). The point of contention is that - horrors! - the debate will include the Socialists and the Communists, and what kind of horrible press would it be to be associated with those nasssty leftists, and what if Fox News got ahold of it? I seriously feel like I'm at a real party business meeting, complete with the interminable debates... If you feel like dropping by the debates in-world, they're next Saturday, the 16th, at 6 Eastern. The Shelbinator missed this portion of the meeting, and maybe it's just as well... </horrible nerdiness>
Update... The motion (if you can call it that, although I did virtually call the virtual question) to send a Democratic representative to the debate seems to have passed three for, one against, with one abstention; now it goes to the full in-world group for a full vote.
Here's a screenshot of a proposed debate location... the old avatar is the Gravel guy. The furry is named "Nashville Liberal" or some such... (Ok, I'm really done being geeky.)
Comments (16)
I presume that if it's a "Liberalism v. Conservatism" debate, then there would be conservatives debating as well.. so there really wouldn't much to the "omg they're talking to socialists!!" argument. And if conservatives don't end up debating and it's just various liberal groups, then one could make the argument that the American Democratic Party is actually debating those crazy socialists (or whatever).
Will there be virtual cops removing the virtual hookers and homeless people from around the virtual debate site?
Will there be virtual anti-globalization protesters?
I was taking a nap through half the meeting, and then when I started paying attention again and the whole issue of identity verification came up regarding election of officers, my proposal didn't even get acknowledged. So I decided my time would be better spent on the toilet.
That Gravel guy irks me.
OH! And how could either of us forget to highlight the absolute best element of the meeting -- and one of the biggest challenges, in my mind, to articulating a clear purpose and utility for Second Life in real, actual politics:
This one chick there (lord only knows what was on the other side of the keyboard) kept muddying up the language about Second Life versus Real Life (SL / RL) and nitpicking about me referring to SL as a medium of communication. She kept insisting (and is very adamant about it in her profile) that "this IS my first life, I don't have a second life," i.e., that the entirety of her existence these days is contained in that damn 3D simulation. Thus, she kept jumping in and screwing up any discussion about using SL networks to reach voters and bring about action in RL. My arguments about the fact that was still meat on a keyboard and would have to vote in RL to make any of this political discussion meaningful at all flew right through her virtual head and made me want to banish her virtual ass to the virtual BDSM kink island she's a member of.
If we have image problems as the Democratic Party of SL, it's not b/c we sit on stage with communists. As long as the communist and the democrat on stage both acknowledge the primacy of RL and don't hang out on any kinky sex islands, we're fine.
Hi there!
I'm Sen. Mike Gravel's Second Life Coordinator, Astrophysicist McCallister inworld. My apologies if I 'irked' you in any way.
I totally agree with your thoughts on the above, including the defined boundary between Second Life and Real Life. During the meeting, you mentioned some very good points of issue, and I'm sorry if your proposal was ignored.
Just to probe, and probably be an annoyance in doing so, how did I irk you? My apologies if I said anything offensive, but I would like to rectify the situtation.
Thanks,
Astrophysicist McCallister
Hi there!
I'm Sen. Mike Gravel's Second Life Coordinator, Astrophysicist McCallister inworld. My apologies if I 'irked' you in any way.
I totally agree with your thoughts on the above, including the defined boundary between Second Life and Real Life. During the meeting, you mentioned some very good points of issue, and I'm sorry if your proposal was ignored.
Just to probe, and probably be an annoyance in doing so, how did I irk you? My apologies if I said anything offensive, but I would like to rectify the situtation.
Thanks,
Astrophysicist McCallister
Hey Astro, it's very heartening to me that you managed to find the RL link to the things going on in the virtual world. (This is Ataru, btw, speaking as my RL avatar.)I don't want to speak for Shelby, but it seems like some of the same problems that plague real meetings come up in virtual ones - namely, that even in the virtual format all proposals are not always treated equally...
I've never visited this blog before, but the blog community when relevant to Second Life has been amazing to Sen. Gravel.
This blog reminds me a lot of Lailalei Mathilde's blog, Second Choices. I think you might be interested in it: www.secondchoices.wordpress.com.
As to virtual debates and meetings, very true. I think as more people come to play Second Life, they intricacies of debating will become even more complex, but it's worty investment to partake in virtual meetings.
Thanks,
Astrophysicist McCallister
smckinley@gravel2008.us
As a First Life type of person, we, Georgia Democrats, would have loved to see Sen. Gravel or one of his people at the For The People Rally yesterday.
No offense, but Second Life avatars don't really inspire people who vote and don't use the internet.
Go ahead with ya'll bad selves and build this Second Life wave while potential voters are not touched in the real world.
Let me know how that works out for Gravel on Feb. 5, 2008.
Smitty,
Good point. Of course, I don't support SL as a forum in replacement of RL politics. I work in RL politics, I have my own political consultation firm, so politics in the real world is critical.
I am, however, a proponent to using Second Life as another socnet in a campaign. In fact, I consider it as many considered the web in 2000, as a new place to spread a candidate's message.
As to your event in Georgia, it is critical that candidates explore all possibilities to spread their message. I personally feel it's shame that all the focus goes to New Hampshire in these early stages, as there is certainly opportunity to reach out to voters everywhere. Hopefully, we can utilize Second Life, not rely on it, in the upcoming election as means of a social interface, a 3D element of the web.
Thanks,
Skyler McKinley
(Astrophysicist McCallister)
smckinley@gravel2008.us
Smitty,
Considering I just mocked the crap out of SL in my previous comment, I'm not saying this as an SL apologist. However, considering your (physical) position at the FTP Rally, up in the heavily wired geek tier with your laptop out and blog guns a-blazin', I find it kind of strange that you're suddenly pulling the anti-tech rant and acting like the SL Democrats are completely irrelevant to, or have abandoned, RL politics -- particularly since two of the people at the DPSL meeting were among your most dedicated fellow volunteers. So uh, save the sarcasm. As for attendance of candidates or their proxies at FTP, how exactly were such people invited, contacted, coordinated with? I hear there were videos from Obama, Clinton, and Richardson, and that's it. Huh. What a big shocker. You want to blame that on people putzing around in the virtual world? Or might there have been the influence of local preferences on perserverance and thoroughness of communication at play at all?
Smitty,
Considering I just mocked the crap out of SL in my previous comment, I'm not saying this as an SL apologist. However, considering your (physical) position at the FTP Rally, up in the heavily wired geek tier with your laptop out and blog guns a-blazin', I find it kind of strange that you're suddenly pulling the anti-tech rant and acting like the SL Democrats are completely irrelevant to, or have abandoned, RL politics -- particularly since two of the people at the DPSL meeting were among your most dedicated fellow volunteers. So uh, save the sarcasm. As for attendance of candidates or their proxies at FTP, how exactly were such people invited, contacted, coordinated with? I hear there were videos from Obama, Clinton, and Richardson, and that's it. Huh. What a big shocker. You want to blame that on people putzing around in the virtual world? Or might there have been the influence of local preferences on perserverance and thoroughness of communication at play at all?
Shelby.. all the candidatese were contacted numerous times about the rally. If was up to them to participate.
Interesting the person who won the straw poll had zilch in the way of presence. John Edwards, not one "One" corps t-shirt wearing person around, not a sticker or rally sign, considering he and his wife have both been to GA in the last 30 days you'd think someone could have sent in some swag for the folks in North GA.
I know one of the organizers spoke with frm Sen. Gravel directly. So there you go...
Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto 4 are due out this fall. That's about the only contribution I can make to this thread.
I promise I will kill all my enemies in said games with equal vengeance. Because I'm a democrat.
Shelby, since you weren't there and apparently make up your observations from a few photos you thereby don't know crap about the FTP environment yesterday (then again why would I expect that you would show up to an event, participate in the background, and not be the center of the technology attention - I haven't seen it happen yet.).
a. I wasn't holed up the geek tower.
b. the geek tower was completely open and one could hear and see everything that was going on on the stage and the floor.
c. this was my second FTP rally compared to zero by you and I chatted and said my pleasantries when I was down on the floor.
d. Gravel personally took a call from one of the organizers about his appearance.
e. Every picture of me at the event is when I was in directly communicating with the founder of ustream while Jon and Grayson were working the equipment, technology, and logistics.
f. I don't even know why I'm dignifying your grade school comment/attacks with a response.
g. I'm confused, are y'all mad in real life, or Second Life?