I wish that I could write this whole entry out all at once, but I can’t. I have to sleep, I have to work, I have to parent, etc., etc.
And while what I have to say may be interesting to some, amusing to others, and perhaps vitally important to Second Life, it just isn’t high enough on my priority list right now.
However, the title says it all. Second Life Needs a Secretary of State.
The short reason why I think that the title says it all is that in my brief exploration into Second Life, it looks like this new world may be sovern…as in “a nation state.”
I am not saying that Linden Labs is a nation state…it’s not. But I do wonder whether Second Life is a nation state.
In fact, I am coming to believe that questions that are easy in real life are harder in Second Life.
For example, if a business in Second Life misleads its investors, does the US SEC have jursidiction? I assert that such a question has no easy answer. [One day I will write a follow-up post to support that wild assertion. But that day is not today.]
So what should this Secretary of State do first?
Well he / she should probably begin with the US Secretary of the Treasury or the IMF and figure out how the new currency (the Linden Dollar, which is now trading at a stable rate against all the world’s major currencies) should actually interface with the real world currencies. Whether we like it or not, the new currency is free-floating against the US Dollar and that is no small achievement.
If the US Sec Treas or the IMF hasn’t thought that one all the way through, they should stop and do so now — before instability in the Linden Dollar has any impact on other currencies.
And if Linden Labs hasn’t thought that one all the way through, they should stop and do so now — and I hope that the Lindens have not thought that mere “trading collars” on the markets is all that is needed.
Whether Linden Labs understands what they have done or not, they have given birth to a new world (and this is becoming / has become a full-fledged world) — they can’t put the world back in the womb. It’s here.
It has a currency that is free-floating against the US dollar. It has virtually no laws. And, I assert that soon enough, no “real world” government will be able to support a claim to jurisdictional reach into Second Life (any more than the US government can assert that its laws apply to citizens of Spain or Denmark).
So, I assert, Second Life needs a Secretary of State to begin the process of integrating Second Life into real life.
I am sure that the Netherlands would love to work out a tax treaty with Second Life.
My name is Jerry Kubrick. I am a newbie. I hope that Second Life prospers and grows — but I do not want to be Secretary of State.
Oh, and I don’t envy the poor soul that takes that job.
[UPDATE: Someone with clearly more knowledge than me disagrees with my "free floating currency point". Instead he thinks that Second Life is a Ponzi scheme. His post is worth reading. Thanks to Scott for the pointer.]
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