Atlas's Avatar Shrugged

LawMeme reports on a tax revolt, complete with tea party and protest slogans on T-shirts, that took place in the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game Second Life. The protesters' argument in a nutshell—it may sound familiar:

Yes, their buildings were larger, their gizmos more gizmoriffic. But these edifices were benefits to Second Life society. Encouraging the grand builders to go off and be grandioser and grandioser makes everyone happier, because it drives a process of creative competition in which they develop ever more wondrous monuments and toys. And all they ask is a favorable tax policy.

(Via /.)

Comments

[Madog]

Some games have done that. It’s annoying.

[Jason Ligon]

I haven’t ever been involved in any of these games, but I will confess to being fascinated by the institutions that develop.

In my car on the way to work today, I happened to think how annoying entropy is in the real world.

[Citizen]

Yeah, but when you have to take the trash out in the Sims every five minutes of “real time” because that’s really equal to a day in “game time” – we might be just in saying that this particular aspect of game entropy “blows goats.” So to speak.

[Jason Ligon]

Strange times. Instead of a tax, why don’t they just introduce entropy that can only be reversed with continual reinvestment?