Ségolène Royal: Second Life OK for French Socialists
by Pixeleen Mistral on 18/01/07 at 1:40 pm
SL not just for French fascists – Socialists can play too!
by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk
Joyous news sure to warm the hearts of French socialists everywhere in Second Life arrived on the mojo wire this morning. Supporters of Ségolène Royal have formed a group, purchased land, and constructed offices to support their candidate for president. I hopped in-world a few hours ago to see for myself, and yes, it is true: the 748th local committee of Désirs d’avenir has been created in Second Life – and they have offices.
Not only are there offices in Second Life, there is also a video of the beaming candidate sitting near a computer that appears to be running second life – sharing a stirring endorsement of her friends in the metaverse. Clearly we are at the forefront of the new political media – World Of Warcraft only wishes they had real life politics in their game.
Still, these developments raise some questions. Can we look forward to more protesters and francophone confrontations? Is that good for property values? I know that hanging around Le Pen’s headquarters recently has greatly improved my ability to conjugate certain french verbs – and anyone who aspires to robust political discourse certainly needs these tools in her arsenal. I’ve also found that “putain” appears to be a popular word in french political rhetoric as well – at least near the National Front offices.
Ségolène Royale’s real life avatar likes Second Life
While the Second Life neighbors of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front supporters seem to just wish that French presidential politics would move to any other sim in the metaverse, a not-in-my-back-yard backlash has not yet developed for the supporters of Ségolène Royal. Perhaps the scene will remain calmer there. Certainly Ségolène Royal has raised the bar for Jean-Marie Le Pen – can we look forward to a Le Pen endorsement of Second Life soon?
Ordinal Malaprop
Jan 18th, 2007
Yeeeersss. The idea of you comparing a race hate group to a fairly mainstream political party on equal terms is… interesting.
A little note – outside of the rarified atmosphere of US political debate, “socialist” does not actually correspond to “hating everything civilised society stands for”. Just so that you know.
Cybrid Keats
Jan 18th, 2007
Indeed. In fact, Segy is probably the more moderate of the two major party candidates – I get the impression that she has much in common with Blair and New Labour. Sarkozy will probably be a tad too radical for France, but we’ll see come May, eh. And both candidates are, as Ordinal says, mainstream moderates when put next to Le Pen.
Sigh. I wish our potential future PM was as sexy as Segy. Why does British politics have to be so dry?
just a guy
Jan 18th, 2007
This was dumb. You can’t compare the two. It’s like comparing a rabid doberman to a hummingbird.
Notgood
Jan 19th, 2007
That’s what we can read in segolene royal’s office :
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/7117/antiblancxn9.jpg
Yesterday Demain
Jan 20th, 2007
Of course you can’t compare FN and the French Socialist Party. However, what strikes me is the violence used by anti-FN residents, quite reminiscent of methods used in the less glorious hours of the 20th century. Fighting ignorance with pure denial and griefing attacks (and several ToS violations) isn’t, in my view, the way to go. Now, let’s see how the official presence of Segolene Royal turns out. Will it be another ‘empty shell’ hype-surfing initiative or a develop into a community spot for debate and true political discussion?
Ordinal Malaprop
Jan 20th, 2007
Of course the fascists never used any “violence” whatsoever as a response to protests
Observer
Jan 27th, 2007
Has to be better than the racist homophobic people over at the French National Front. I heard they were even attracting some Nazi groups, of course fascists end up banding together despite being from separate nations often.