Virtual Antifa
Virtual anti-fascism arrived in SL this week when the Second Life Left Unity group, initiated by SSP members, took on the virtual presence of Le Pen's Front National.
SLLU press release:
"Ban the Front National from SL PG zones
The SL Left Unity group condemns the actions of the French fascist party, Front National for their actions against protesting AV's outside their offices in a PG sim.
This hate filled group of right wing racist nationalists have brought disrepute to SL and have damaged the livelihoods of many working av's in the PG rated Matrix Mall.
The SLLU have acquired land next to the FN office and will be manning a protest there until FN go or are ejected. Where-ever fascists are we will ensure they get no peace to corrupt and lie to decent people.
The SL Left Unity group call on the Linden's to see sense and ban this race hate group who are masquerading as a political party, from SL PG zones.
French citizen, and SLLU member Laura, AKA Paty said, “It is bad enough that these people cause trouble on the streets of France never mind the happy gaming world of Second Life.”
London based SLLU member HiggleDpiggle Snoats said, “Although in the interests of free speech I question the usefulness of an outright ban, I feel it is completely inappropriate for a known racist group to be operating within a PG sim"
Commenting on the FN users reaction to the protesters, Mark Lock, AKA Marco, from Italy, said, “What I saw yesterday was that we were shot by their security for exercising our right to free speech.”
San Francisco based solidad Sugarbeet said, "The presence of a fascist organization in SL is an outrage. SL should be about building bonds, not breaking them."
A SLLU spokesperson said, “the whole idea of a 'Race Hate' group is in direct violation of LL's own terms of service, and if the rules are being read to say they aren’t in violation, then Lindens need to look at the rules again. \
We would urge the Lindens to strongly to consider whether they want to allow this group to be represented within SL. This, of course, would not happen if SL was fully democratic.”
The SL Left Unity group was set up by members of the Scottish Socialist Party in November 2006. It has outgrown it's original kernel of SSP members into a world wide left unity group comprising of people from many countries and all walks of life who are interested in social justice and whom are critical of the current world wide neo-conservative capitalist system.
Plot Tracer, SLLU"
I must say I got a bit dissillusioned with Second Life, not because of the concept of virtual worlds, but rather because of the rather leaden interface and the never-ending lag which was much worse than it should have been. Perhaps they need to switch to regional servers rather than having one international one. Another reason to do that might be to allay USonians confusion at this kind of thing.
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2 Comments:
Ally if the SSP took a less blinkered/sectarian approach to internationalism youse might just find out that a vast network of leftist internationalists - many 10,000s strong - have been giving practical and political support to each other for years now.
For some bizarre reason the SSP's political orientation tends to tailend other Trotskyite parties where a new agenda is definitely NOT being set.
For years now a group of us from Scotland have been in dialogue with the pro-independence lefts of the Basque Country, Catalonia, Brittany, Corsica, Sardinia, Galicia, who meet up and work with similar minded people from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, plus France, Spain, Greece, Venezeula, the USA, and many other countries and stateless nations.
This isnt a bunch of Trotskyists tryign to "lead" a new international but the most serious and best organised pro-independence lefts.
Ask yerself this: why, since 2003, has not one single SSP MSP or SSP party official been to visit and therefore build links with any of the pro-independence lefts of the stateless nations of Europe?
If you, Fizz or anyone else in the SSP International Committee wants to find out about building links and opening dialogue with the pro-independence lefts of Europe and Latin/South America then get in touch. Its is the SSP who is losing out and if there had been continual dialogue with for example Batasuna the SSP may never have got into the mess it got itself into over Sheridan. Such a situation COULD NEVER happen within such organisations because structurally and politically it would just not be possible. They have experience in a much more enlightened, progressive and more radical approach to building a leftist political movement.
Have a think about it.
I'd like to help get the SSP involved in such a dialogue but at present I just dont see much signs of a coherent and practical internationalism coming from within the SSP.By
Kevin Williamson, at 4:53 pm
I don't think its too surprising that a socialist party has its international links with other socialists. It's not true that we only have links with "other" Trotskyists (the SSP is not a Trotskyist party as you well know). The parties we have the closest links with are, unsurprisingly, the ones we have the most in common with such as the Left Bloc in Portugal and the Red/Green Alliance in Denmark. These are broad parties of the left and not trotskyist parties. The only formally trotskyist party we have links with are the LCR and even they have a more democratic multi-tendency approach than you might be familiar with from the trotskyist left here. Other parties for example in Norway and Australia that we have links with would in no way consider themselves to be Trotskyist. Your view of the international left is far too coloured by your experiences with groups like Militant and the SWP. Look, for example, at the Dutch SP who have had great success, but who originated in a Maoist current.
You are probably aware of visits made to the Basque Country by SSP officials like A. McC. I have been present when Basque comrades met in the parliament with our MSP's. I have been there myself and corresponded with Basque activists including getting their articles in our press. I do think that there are things to learn from these movements and saw for myself their close integration into their communities.
I think it would be useful to take up your offer of finding out more about other groups and movements and I'll raise that soon. Email me if you want to provide more information.
p.s I guess your comment was not a response to the actual post. If it was then maybe I should point out that SL is something different from RL (real life.)
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