Second Life Goes Political

This is one of those stories that no matter how many times you read it, you still can't quite grasp A) how utterly bizarre it really is and B) quite how much this represents the decline of Western civilisation.

From the Guardian Unlimited website: Minister upsets Italians

"Italians seeking respite in cyberspace from the surreal world of Italian politics are fighting plans by a minister to build a campaign headquarters in the virtual reality community Second Life."

Basically, an Italian minister bought an island on Second Life to get up a virtual headquarters, and he is being blocked by people who don't want him there. The really interesting thing about this article is the last paragraph;

"The virtual campaign office created by US presidential candidate John Edwards was reportedly vandalised on February 26, while shots were fired in January as anti-racist avatars besieged the virtual offices of Jean Marie le Pen, the French rightwing politician."

Ok, read that again. Anti-racist avatars besieging virtual offices. The Metaverse has now come of age, a make believe world has become real, the future has arrived. I don't know whether to be terrified or to celebrate the social, political and technological advances that this could bring. I think it's the former.