Fatherland+Messerchmitt

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An aspiring avatar who's interested in what the world of SL can offer. In applying the themes learned in works by Klein, Lessig, and others, SL serves as a research platform to better understand and evaluate how the literature's themes apply to this virtual world. The following page contains images and a comprehensive journal of what Fatherland Messerchmitt has learned in PS 545 as well as his adventures within SL. Let's ROLL!!!!
 * Fatherland Messerchmitt**:

Despite this not directly being a part of the assignment, below is a listing of pages that Fatherland Messerchmitt feels contributes to a better understanding of the novels. Remember, these are pages which I feel could assist in any neophyte's understand and not to their overall knowledge of the world in which we currently live in. Important note: the following pages have been applied to SL and contribute to the overall research project.
 * Important Booknotes/discussion**

1. Shock Doctrine: Naomi Klein (Pages for review and consideration)
 * p. 17 (1st paragraph)
 * p. 51 (4th paragraph; last sentence)
 * p. 56-57 (last paragraph to first)
 * p. 134 (3rd paragraph last sentence)
 * p. 141 (1st paragraph last sentence)
 * p. 145-196 (Contradictions)
 * p. 285
 * p. 288 (1st paragraph)
 * p. 291 (Cost plus contract)
 * p. 298 (3rd paragraph)
 * p. 309-310 ( last paragraph; foreign coup backed by U.S.A.)
 * p. 316 (2nd paragraph)
 * p. 327 (Model Theory; 3rd paragraph)
 * p. 401-402 (Last paragraph to First paragraph)
 * p. 402 ("Terra Nullius"; 3rd paragraph)
 * p. 414 ( 1st and 2nd paragraphs)
 * p. 428 (2nd and 3rd paragraphs)
 * p. 441 (2nd paragraph)

2. Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity (Pages for review and consideration)
 * p. 73 (3rd and 4th paragraphs)
 * p. 75 (1st and last sentence)
 * p. 77 (chart)
 * p. 78 ( 4th paragraph)
 * p. 90 (Stature of Anne)
 * p. 105 (4th and last sentence)
 * p. 120 (5th paragraph; p. 121 Model)
 * p. 140 (2nd paragraph)
 * p. 143
 * p. 151 (DMCA; 3rd paragraph)
 * p. 159 (3rd paragraph)
 * p. 170 (1st paragraph)
 * p. 170- 173 (Summary)
 * p. 240 (5th paragraph; Court case summary)
 * p. 251-253 (Registration)
 * p. 255 (3rd paragraph)

3. Fight Club (Pages for review and consideration) 4. Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility (Pages for review and consideration) 5. Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility 6. The Public and Its Problems
 * p. 70
 * p. 75
 * p. 110
 * p. 125
 * p. 140-141
 * p. 142
 * p. 171
 * p. 25
 * p. 30
 * p. 36-38
 * p. 40
 * p. 52
 * p. 88
 * p. 102
 * p. 109
 * p. 118-119
 * p. 123
 * p.131-133
 * p.142-144
 * p. 149
 * p. 163
 * p. 171
 * p. 177
 * p. 180
 * p. 190
 * p. 194-195
 * p. 207
 * p. 215
 * p. 219
 * p. 222
 * p. 229
 * p. 238
 * p. 251-252
 * p. 257-261
 * p. 25
 * p. 37-40
 * p. 51-52
 * p. 88
 * p. 102
 * p. 109
 * p. 118-119
 * p. 123
 * p. 131-133
 * p.149
 * p. 163
 * p. 171
 * p. 177
 * p. 180
 * p.194-195
 * p. 207
 * p. 215
 * p. 219
 * p. 222
 * p. 229
 * p. 238
 * p. 251
 * p. 253
 * p. 257-261
 * p.8
 * p.12
 * p. 60
 * p. 69
 * p. 86
 * p. 148

__**Second Life Journal**__

In the beginning their was me. The reality of all this madness is the everyday routines, tasks, and duties I fulfill in my quest to understand the meaning of life and what I'm doing here. Hell, we only have one century to live. Like a good fiction novel, the realm of reality MUST be combined with fiction to allow understanding and an escape from what we call life. Second life has provided this escape allowing for a vertual world to be my escape from reality. Below is a brief description of my experiences in Second life and my quest to compare the vertual world with the thoughts, discussions, and themes discussed in the books listed above.

//__January Second Life Experience__//:

WOW! I really don't have any clue what Second Life is or it's purpose. I'm going to be completely honest, I've never been into the "cyber world" and always have found it creepy to discuss something with someone you can't see, not to mention who you've truly never met. Despite this outlook, I'm an impartial person and will dip into this vertial world (Not to mention 50% of my grade is pending on my participation/group work). Today, I've learned to teleport and fly! AWESOME! Before I left the island, I did run into someone who was from another country (I'm guessing this because the individual wasn't grammatically correct in their sentence structure; I had to "rearrange" a few of their sentences to make sence) and asked him/her what this Second Life thing is all about. Before I knew it, Fatherland Messerchmitt, me, was being given a personal tour of Second Life by a thing with rainbow wings. The first place we stopped was an island run by a bunch of hippies. Now, what's interesting to consider about this island besides all the retro, "far out" colors and music, is the ATM machines positioned around the stage. At first, I was a little confused of these machines; not something I would associate with the hippies. Interested, I had walked up to one of the machines and began an questionaire. Rather than complete the questionaire, I asked my tour guide why these machines existed here. Despite the currency you received, I immediately related these machines to the Shock Doctrine. I saw a free society forced into the corporate world in order to remain successful. I asked my tour guide if the hippie island had always been this way. He/she said no and things use to be simple and basic. "Hippie Pay" appears to be laughs and funs but is a mirror image of an island feeling the impact of corporatism. Wonder if Friedman has anything to do with these changes? _

Continuing my exploration of the island, I've begun to "meet" those who appear to have been involved with Second Life for some time. Literally, I'm playing the dumb card and approaching every avatar with the same introduction line: "Hi, I'm new and have no idea what Second Life is and would appreciate any help you can be." Today, I met an avatar who took me around the island and gave me more suggested islands to visit. As we continue to discuss and analyze the Shock Doctrine, the once utopian world of Second Life has begun to reflect similar themes found in the Sock Doctrine: "starting from a blank slate", society privatized through corporatism, etc....Fatherland Messerchmitt is a neophyte but is catching on quick. I'm bossy!

//__February Second Life Experience__//:

As skills and basic understandings of Second Life become second nature, I've begun to adventure across numerous islands; sometimes out of curiosity but most of the time in search of materials that justify/symoblize the numerous themes discussed in the Shock Doctrine as well as into Free Culture. It's apparant that many themes discussed in Shock Doctrine directly apply to Second Life. Considering Free Culture, I stumbled something at the China Island. Yes, the China Island. For the past two years, I've taken Chinese as a language and am fascinated with the culture. Out of curiosity, I traveled to a China Island with the intent of find old Chinese cultural items but was proven wrong:

As you can see, the China Island is nothing I expected to find. The welcome center, the building in the upper left corner of the screen, contained many what you would expect Chinese symbols but as I traversed the island, more and more areas appeared to be "corporatized". Wondering why this is, I ran into an avatar who only spoke Chinese, literally. After taking Chinese for two years, I was able to pick out a few words she/he was saying and gained knowledge of an island that had been changed radically. The building directly infront of fatherland messserchmitt above only allows certain members access, a kind of elite permission group who's constructed an ideal resort island only attainable by those who've been admitted. This "permission" culture, as discussed in Lessig, is all over the island as well as other islands I've visited; permission culutre serves as the junxtapositon to permission culture. As noted in Klein, the old world image of the China island has been changed radically from a blank slate. From a vantage point, one can look around the island and see numerous signs of corporatization in action: there're western style restaurants, a pirate shit, luxury yachts, western-style comes snuggled next to Chinese homes, and not to mention the numerous Coke products scattered across the island. It's everywhere and apparent the island has changed since its inseption. These images serve, symbolically, not as a since of imperialism but implied market forces to construct a newer society. Given the limited access, "architectures" have been constructed to limit access and not to mention the consequences of jeopardizing infiltration or a breach in regulations. Thus, the modalities of constraint (Laws, Market, Architecture, and Norms) discussed in Lessig are prevelent across the island.

The more and more I explore the island, I continue to gain knowledge of how SL isn't just a virual community intented to allow freedoms for all but serves more as an experimental laboratory to see how starting from a blank slate doesn't just construct a new, improved community but draws away from creating the a struggle between the individual and the community in which they interact. The picture below is an ideal image of the struggle between community and the modalities. When first exploring SL, I constantly saw the construction of communities intended to have similar attributes: islands centered on a particular culture/custom, style, or theme. Regardless, SL creates a world, a dream world in a since, that allows a avatar to construct freely what they choose. Below, a tree house on the right and a mansion on the left. First, the mansion as architectures which doesn't allow access to visiters; only accessible to those who're "welcomed". But, their neighborhood friendly tree house is welcomed to all. Similar to Tyler in Fight Club, this irony of permission is a creation of capitalism. In capitalism, we become more of a culture focused on the "wants" rather than the "needs". Rather than being a virtual community which grants freedoms to all members, SL has become a world no longer focused on the community but the individual; we're one of many. Given the freedoms to roam and explore, SL has granted the necessary items to allow a capitalist-virtual world to be constructed. Lessig explains to us in Free Culture three types of usages: restricted, unrestricted and fair use. What's interesting is Lessig's argument only applies to SL in a since that the entire SL culture is restricted and has nothing to do with unrestricted or fair usage. Essentially, Lessig's argument only applies to reality; the world in which you and I live in that is an amalgimation of regulations and barriers to ensure order and control. Seriously, the SL system is a virtual world not intended for one to roam freely and do as they please but restrict and reshape what it means to be an individual. Why is it that Fatherland Messerchmitt can only sit there and not there? Why is it that Fatherland Messerchmitt is allowed access to only a few locations and not all? These questions amass a general reoccurring theme that is SL: SL is based on materialism in that the whole world is owned by another who implements regulations (modalities of restraint) that basically tell us what we can and can't do. As discussed in Shock Doctrine, the recreation of society from a blank slate is pivotal and agruably the most important aspect in creating a society based on restricted ownership. Within SL, this is no clemency and no lenancy! Avatars are forced to adapt to the system and wake up to the realization the this virtual free community is nothing more than a virtually created capitalist world controlled by the aristocrats. These controls aren't just dicating what we can and can't do but are shaping and determining who we can become within SL. Take for example the below avatar: After permission from this avatar to take "her" picture, Lessig's argument of ownership controlling the way in which the system adapts is apparent. First, when creating an avatar, one is allowed only to wear certain items: a red dress, rainbow wings, a tee shirt, etc....Rather than just become an ideal person, avatars are nothing more than objects created by the user but owned and control by the property owners in SL who compile the reguations and set principles of what is restricted. Fatherland Messerchmitt isn't allowed to go up the stair case or sit in Elvis' pink cady because those objects were created by an avatar who implemented stipulations to protect their property from other avatars. _ //__March Second Life Experiences__://

Skepiticism has been met with open minds! From the start, my experiences thus far have broaden my horizons and have forced me to think more abstractly in a quest to apply the knowledge acquired from the books Free Culture, Shock Doctrine, and the notorious Fight Club. If I could accumulate all of these thoughts and approaches into one general theme, this would be it: In order for the world of SL to function, a blank slate must have been created to create this ideal world. As time lasped, intruding forces from capitalism infiltrated this harmonious world and completely recreated a world based on ownership, regulations, and restrictions. The following picture is proof of the influence of capitalism: If it were possible, I wish I could have uploaded a panoramic picture of this store. Besides the child game section being positioned directly next to the Kong Fu lessions and weapon purchase, this store is basically a giant "for sale" sign consisting of everything from owning a virtual dog to receiving a back message. All of this is property owned by an avatar who's contributing capitalist feautres to this free world. SL isn't a free society but a permission society because everything within SL contains value. Just like the assests we've all accumulated in our lives, our property is something we cherish. Even is virtual reality, property is accumulated an cherished. This value in property results in ownership by someone. Once ownership has been claimed, stipulations are applied by the owner to ensure complete control of their property. As ownership of property continues to breed modalities of constraint, SL will continue to be nothing more than a fictional free world constrained and restricted by ownership. Fatherland Messerchmitt is having to ask for everything rather than freely acquire items in SL! The following is an picture which captures the essence of recreating one's self from nothing and being forced into believing one is crafting their own individual but in reality are simply conforming to the uniformity of the system based on regulations and set contraints: Sure, the above picture is similar to those already posted but what's most disturbing about this is the positioning and location of such a store. Seriously, the following "store" is located directly across the street from two ghostly depicted structure intended to be the WTC. This is disaster capitalism! As explained by Klein, a eradication of the present must occur in order for a better future to be errected. In a since, history serves as nothing more than a reference to past actions rather than lasting legacies. In NYC island, the constructors of the island felt the need to reconstruct the iconic image of the two towers. Rather than keeping the island's integrity intacted and respecting the reverence of the island, the powers of capitalism has besieged NWY island. Here's another image directly across the street, just around the corner from the WTC: Certainly, the American philosophy has always been to move on from the past. But, personally, greater reverence must be presented. In exploring the NYC island, more and more similarities are become apparent that are found in Break Though. Written by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenderger, Break Though is a comprehensive detailed analysis of how environmentalist have failer to effectively better the environment. I'm not going to talk about tree huggers or hippies, but other aspects captured within the literature. Similar to Klein's argument, rather than creating a ideal utopian world, SL has done nothing more than fail its avatars to createa world based on human potential. Rather, avatars have grabbed ownership and set modalities to regulate their places, protecting their objects of others rather than improving the lives of the virtual reality community. Consequently, ownership has constrined rather than unleash avatar activity and creativity ultimatley amassing a class distinction characterized by inequality of those who are "wealthy" (property owners) and those who're restricted (ME!!!!!!). Despiter the book focusing on disproving and embarrasing the environmentalist argument for the past decade, many overlapping themes from the previous books are apparent. _ //__April Second Life Experiences__//:

According to our syllabus, the duration of the rest of our time this semester will be devoted to ecological matters as well as the environment we're created and the constant struggle between human civilization and nature. The following is a picture of the "planted" rainforest: Given the argument, at least one of them, constructed in Break Through of dispoving and make the environmentalist movement look stupid, this section of the island justifies the author's position. Here, you can see a trail zig zagging through the planted forest. Sure, the message is clear and positive by attempting to educate others to contribute virtually to protecting the rainforest, but like the modern environmentalist this island's owner attempt to imbue fear and scare the alarmist in our society to act. Call it "ignorant pressure" (yes, it's a new phrase I'm emplying that is similar to peer pressure in that adults are guilty of being pressured into making decisions because they lack the knowledge of the WHOLE issue and are only persuaded through the visual means), avatars are believing they're experiencing something beneficial, caring a positive message of helping the rain forest, but what's not noticed is the scare tactics scattered throughout the island. When Fatherland Messerchmitt clicked on one of these info boxes, words such as "noisy monkeys being slaughtered" and "stealthy jaguars being poached for their furs" were read. This is the argument in which Break Through is attempting to develop: environmentalist are prolonging the development of human creativity by implying the best way of confronting nature's setbacks is for us to work around nature and ensure its survival. In Break Through, the authors clearly depict a current issue occuring in the Amazon. For years, we Americans have seen horrific images of the rain forest being deforested but what's currently happening in the Amazon isn't seen. For decades, Brazilians have suffered economically and lived below the international poverty line. Rather than using the benefits found within the rain forest, corrupt government officials and large land owners have exploited the forest's resources as well as the cheap labor currently available. The reality of the situation is developing nations across the world desire to achieve a minimal level of economic development and security. As we Americans accuse the Brazilians and those nations within the Amazon region of destroying "our greatest resource" and contributing to the global warming epidemic, we need to realize that its unreasonable for us to expect these countries to sacrifice economic development for the purpose of reducing pollution and protecting nonhuman ecosystems. Rather than pointing the finger and restricting countries from attaining economic development, the United States should, as it has always done, take the leadership role available and usher in a world full of newer technologies that aren't just beneficial to the environment but projects human enginuity and creativity into the business sector. We shouldn't be asking the question of how can we preserve nature but asking in what ways can we improve our technologies which assist in our advancement and the health of our environment. Note: what's most peculiar regarding this picture is the images of enviromental stuff hanging from the walls. Most interestingly, the structure where this picture was taken is a church. Has the importance of the environment elevated to the position of a religion? According to the authors of Break Through, the answer is yes! As more and more time is being devoted towards completing the group project, less emphasis will be spent on the journal. As the semester comes to a completion, our class is currently discussing the works of Berry and Dewey; of course we're connecting those work's themes to every other concept thus discussed : ). As Fatherland Messerchmitt looks back through his journey, not only is it amazing that I was able to grasp the world of Second Life but take the concepts discussed in reality and apply them to the virtual community.

