Moderator: SC Moderators
I would like to clarify about my post above, that when I started this thread it was not so much even to make a suggestion. It was almost completely to let people know about this new community joining the CDS and to describe my experience of meeting them.
To the extent I was making a comment, however, it was to suggest that more communication among us (especially those of us in the government) could be helpful to everybody.
After having read the different posts of this topic, I have several remarks.
I agree totally with the fact that our community is based on volunteering. I nevertheless think that we should make a difference between our civil servants and the other volunteers. The civil servants are choosen by the Chancellor who is the first of them, if I can say so. They are our executive. They manage some important aspects of the life of our community. If we don't have litter everywhere, if the portal contains updated informations, if we have great Oktober fest, if the fees of our sims are paid to Linden Lab, we can be gratefull to the team appointed by Jamie. The civil-servants of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators (CDS) are paid. This income doesn't make them rich and it is not the reason why they serve. Their motivation is to be useful for the community. I have served as Public Information Officer (PIO) for one term, so I know how much time and energy it costs.
In our community, we have other volunteers. They develop activities through our beautiful sims. They organize events . They make their house beautiful. They sit in the Representative Assembly (RA) or the Scientific Council (SC). They animate debates in the political factions. They help newcomers.
We need both of them to make of the life in our sims a wonderful experience. I express my gratitude to both of them.
We have merged two communities and it is not an easy process. The easiest was certainly the technical process, made by Linden Lab, to join the sims physically. The political process was long and complicate, as a lot a question had to be discussed. We have find ways to make this merging possible. Now the most difficult process is starting: the merging of the two communities in one, with the same spirit. This process needs a lot of confidence from both sides. We have in Europ a lot of examples of countries that were artificially built. They did not resist to change. When I walk in our sims and talk with people, when I read this forum, I read/hear AA, CDS meaning people from Al Andalous, people from the old sims of CDS. If you read carefully the beginning of this text, you can see that I did not use acronyms or only after the complete expression. This is the way I have choosen to welcome people: I want they understand me. By using our insider words, we have the risk to be not understood. This is the real start: communication. We both have an history: let's explane it. We both have traditions: let's experience them. We could see this merging as a chance. For this we have to forget the idea of two communities that have merged because it was more convenient. For this we have meet each other, not only in parties, but also in our houses and public buildings. For this we can share our experiences. On every sim, there are skilled builders. They can talk together. There are also several librarians now in our community: why not create a little network and help each other to develop libraries. I was recently in the palace of Alhambra and I have met an avatar from Spain who knew the real building. He said how wonderful it was. I felt proud. I did not build any part of this building, but it is a part of me too. I hope that a citizen who has joined us by purchasing a house in Al Andalous can be proud of the Monastery too and invite any visitor to go on the terrace of the tower and have a look on the amazing landscape from there. We still have a long way until we succeed. Each of us has to think about each time he/she speaks to others. Each of us has to make efforts in both directions. If we succeed, we will get more than two communities together. We will be a new community, with a new spirit and we will be able to face the future challenges of Second Life.
Finally one word about languages. I am not native english-speaker. It's easy to guess. Since I am in this community, I was able to engage myself in many activities and even to take responsibilities. I have never felt language as a barrier. People are patient and the use of the chat instead the voice is helpful.
I received a note that Arria had proposed new legislation. Unable to find it on the forums.
Please send a copy to all the RA members -- or I will object to its being raised in RA.
Soro.
Soro, a couple of days ago Arria sent her proposed legislation to all of the RA members by email.
Hello,
Maybe it's just a bad mood that I'm in today or recently, but I must say I am having severe doubts about joining the CDS after reading this thread. I'm sure most of you don't realise how you sound, but this thread is just awful IMO.
Sonja is a recent new friend of mine so I realise that there is probably a lot of history or baggage going on here that I don't know about, but it's also clear to me that several of you have some real issues based on these comments. Perhaps I'm just being naive and Sonja will turn out to be purest evil, but I think it much more likely that she isn't.
I'm sure we all have bad and good days and we all say things we don't mean sometimes, but I find most of this thread to be a way over-the-top reaction to a "hurt" that seemed completely unintentional to me.
Just to be clear ... to someone looking at this from the "outside" like me there is absolutely nothing out of order or wrong with what she posted in the original post. I just take it as a wry remark about the CDS's notoriously bad communication efforts. Is there someone here that is going to argue that the CDS has excellent communication and everyone is well aware of everything going on? If so there are about a dozen threads on the front page to disprove that notion.
To me it's as if she posted a cookie recipe and you all started calling her Hitler or something. It's so bizarely, strangely, hateful I just felt compelled to comment about it. The things that Jamie says in particular are absolutely awful. "Accusatory" ??? "Finger pointing" ???? How ironic to point a finger at someone and accuse them of that! It seemed like a perfectly normal post to me.
My apologies if I'm wrong and Sonja has done all kinds of evil things that I'm not aware of but I don't understand you people at all today.
A word or two might be appropriate, in response to Sylvia's reading (long after the act) of some of our old posts.
You will find quite a few spirited disagreements in the forums, particularly o political topics, and particularly when people are preparing to run for office, in my experience. Go look up the collected CDS Forum works of Ashcroft Burnham, or the Michael Manen versus Patroklus Murakami debates.
When one is in a political system, one is challenged to meet with calmness the occasional political attacks. (A few elections ago, for example, the CSDF built its whole campaign around a plea for a "Return to Democracy" and socialism, from the depredations of the adamant elitist despotry that was, well, me. I admit that I was pleased that they lost that election soundly. But I did not take it as a personal attack, and they won the next election, and we still all go out for a virtual beer together.)
There was, actually, a bit of fuss (not reflected in these Forums) over the temporary religious project which was the topic of those posts which Sonja read; it all seemed to resolve itself just fine over time.
And Sonja is not Hitler, with or without cookies; she's my respected and hard-working successor and has my complete support and respect.
Regards JP