The USA is not necessarily a reflection of the world

[Jules Catlyn]

I am aware that Linden Lab is an American company and that a rather large part of the user base is American. However, users of Second Life come from all over the world and the world is a very diverse place. This is what i often do not see reflected in discussions about real life topics on this forum. 

Often what is happening in the USA is presented as almost being the current state of affairs in the world. In a lot of instances this is not the case.

Whether it be subjects like LGBTQ+ rights, abortion laws, the way different social groups treat each other, these all differ a lot around the globe.

I understand that Americans can be very vocal about their opinions, but i also see them turn a blind eye on how things work in the rest of the world. 

Maybe this is because events in the rest of the world are not really covered in their media or  the rest of the world is not really addressed in education. I do not know the reason.

I just see a lot of discussions on these forums drown in American "facts" and the rest of the world's view is left out.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Jules Catlyn
Booboo

[Phil Deakins]

The USA is not necessarily a reflection of the world

Fixed it for you

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Phil Deakins

[Jules Catlyn]

1 minute ago, Phil Deakins said:

The USA is not necessarily a reflection of the world

I wanted to keep it a little diplomatic

[Phil Deakins]

 

[Finite]

29 minutes ago, Jules Catlyn said:

I am aware that Linden Lab is an American company and that a rather large part of the use base is American. However, users of Second Life come from all over the world and the world is a very diverse place. This is what i often do not see reflected in discussions about real life topics on this forum. 

Often what is happening in the USA is presented as almost being the current state of affairs in the world. In a lot of instances this is not the case.

Whether it be subjects like LGBTQ+ rights, abortion laws, the way different social groups treat each other, these all differ a lot around the globe.

I understand that Americans can be very vocal about their opinions, but i also see them turn a blind eye on how things work in the rest of the world. 

Maybe this is because events in the rest of the world are not really covered in their media or  the rest of the world is not really addressed in education. I do not know the reason.

I just see a lot of discussions on these forums drown in American "facts" and the rest of the world's view is left out.

Seems a lot of non-Americans have a lot of interest in these so called American topics (I genuinely didn't know LGBTQ+ rights was just an American topic) since a lot of non-Americans seem to have very strong opinions on said topics. That being said, if you feel left out it's because you chose to be left out or rather to not participate. There is nothing preventing non-Americans from starting threads that reflect their own views. That being said, I wouldn't go on website forum of a game played mostly by Europeans or whatever and owned and operated by Europeans and be bothered by the lack of American related topics.

[Jules Catlyn]

6 minutes ago, Finite said:

Seems a lot of non-Americans have a lot of interest in these so called American topics (I genuinely didn't know LGBTQ+ rights was just an American topic) since a lot of non-Americans seem to have very strong opinions on said topics.

I never said LGBTQ+ rights were JUST an American topic. I just say that when they are brought up, the way they are handled in America is presented as being the narrative for how they are around the world.

 

7 minutes ago, Finite said:

There is nothing preventing non-Americans from starting threads that reflect their own views.

Which will then quickly drown in the American narrative.

 

8 minutes ago, Finite said:

That being said, I wouldn't go on website forum of a game played mostly by Europeans

I haven't seen any data on demographics in SL lately. I am very curious where the current user base is from.

[Finite]

4 minutes ago, Jules Catlyn said:

 

 

I haven't seen any data on demographics in SL lately. I am very curious where the current user base is from.

This is the closest I could find. Dated June of 2021.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

I use reddit for worldnews,  which shows me outside the US.  

[Extrude Ragu]

Hear, hear

[SarahKB7 Koskinen]

Your country doesn't even have an actual real name, the "United States of America" is just a description of what it is and where it is on the planet. 😜

Edited July 9, 2022 by SarahKB7 Koskinen

[Ceka Cianci]

2 minutes ago, SarahKB7 Koskinen said:

Your country doesn't even have an actual real name, United States of America is just a description of what it is and where it is on the planet. 😜 

Which I guess is what throws the rest of the world off as it being just one thing, instead of the 50 of them that it actually is.. hehehehe

 

[ValKalAstra]

Looking into myself, English speaking communities often register as American to me. Which is frankly odd. I'd guess it's in part because of how American news are incredibly loud to me and often overshadow what happens in my own country. There's the language barrier eating up foreign news. And there's also that many online communities are based in the US and that naturally colours perception too.

Truth be told, this has often caused friction and is a big contributor as to why I usually stay out of sociocultural topics. My perspective and experience is simply not helpful to their struggles and sometimes actively undermines their efforts. I don't think people turn a blind eye nor is it a wilful act or intent to claim the USA reflect all sociocultural ills and boons. It's just that other perspectives might be so far removed from the frame of reference as to become distractions and deflections by accident.

 

 

 

[Finite]

1 hour ago, SarahKB7 Koskinen said:

Your country doesn't even have an actual real name, the "United States of America" is just a description of what it is and where it is on the planet. 😜

Are you also confused by The Peoples Republic of China and The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea? How about the United Kingdom. It’s kind of like the US except it’s 3 states instead of 50. And England or Britain. Which one is it? Me personally I’m always confused (not really) by Espania and Deutschland. Why don’t they just say Spain or Germany? Like Deutschland doesn’t even sound like Germany. The nerve…

[Brightstar7777]

1 hour ago, ValKalAstra said:

Looking into myself, English speaking communities often register as American to me. Which is frankly odd. I'd guess it's in part because of how American news are incredibly loud to me and often overshadow what happens in my own country. There's the language barrier eating up foreign news. And there's also that many online communities are based in the US and that naturally colours perception too.

I think it can be said that Rupert Murdoch has worked tirelessly for decades to make the US news media landscape more similar to that which may be found within the English Commonwealth where his media empire got its start. I think that over the last thirty years in particular, it has cultivated a blurring of the lines between US populism and wider IngSoc, right down to fawning over monarchs and tacitly accepting or further entrenching classist or capitalist or autocratic tropes at all costs in the loyal and systemic defense of imperialist ethos and narrative.

It seems there's a sharp division in how they conceive our reality is supposed to operate; they seem to believe that the people are to be ruled by authoritarian conglomerations of extralegal or as-if magical monarchical absolute powers, powers that can literally steer the destinies of civilizations, the species, or even the planet according to arbitrary, capricious, destructive, or foolish preference. In truth, though, this entire approach historically constructs abusive and exploitative hierarchies that undermine even their own long-term best Enlightened interests by creating a harder and more hostile environment, negatively energized atmosphere, and weather for everyone and everything to languish in. I can only suppose the calculation is that none of that matters unless you're a "little person," which is going to make the anthropogenic climate change they've been implementing all the more bitter and caustic for the overwhelming majority of humanity, along with all other higher species of life on the planet.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Brightstar7777

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

5 hours ago, Jules Catlyn said:

I am aware that Linden Lab is an American company and that a rather large part of the user base is American. However, users of Second Life come from all over the world and the world is a very diverse place. This is what i often do not see reflected in discussions about real life topics on this forum. 

Often what is happening in the USA is presented as almost being the current state of affairs in the world. In a lot of instances this is not the case.

Whether it be subjects like LGBTQ+ rights, abortion laws, the way different social groups treat each other, these all differ a lot around the globe.

I understand that Americans can be very vocal about their opinions, but i also see them turn a blind eye on how things work in the rest of the world. 

Maybe this is because events in the rest of the world are not really covered in their media or  the rest of the world is not really addressed in education. I do not know the reason.

I just see a lot of discussions on these forums drown in American "facts" and the rest of the world's view is left out.

I love to learn and discuss topics from all parts of the world. I have friends outside the US, and can trace my ancestry to various countries I have researched extensively, and so feel an affinity with other countries outside my own place of residence.

If you want to discuss subjects from your country why don't you initiate them?  I feel you are blaming those in the US for your own lack of initiative.

[Jules Catlyn]

Just now, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

I feel you are blaming those in the US for your own lack of initiative.

It is not a matter of blaming. I participate in discussions and try to bring in different view points. I do this less lately because the American narrative will be pushed with such force that it is almost impossible to bring other views to the table. 

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

Just now, Jules Catlyn said:

It is not a matter of blaming. I participate in discussions and try to bring in different view points. I do this less lately because the American narrative will be pushed with such force that it is almost impossible to bring other views to the table. 

Can you provide an example of your efforts?

[Jules Catlyn]

Just now, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

Can you provide an example of your efforts?

Am i being put on trial now?:)

I don't feel the need at all to do that. I don't have to justify my opinion. If you are a member of this forum, there are plenty of examples that support my claim.

[SarahKB7 Koskinen]

11 hours ago, Finite said:

How about the United Kingdom. It’s kind of like the US except it’s 3 states instead of 50. And England or Britain. Which one is it?

Firstly, the United Kingdom is not a country, it's a single sovereign state and a union of four nations (not countries) in a political and economic union.

Three of the four nations are on a large main island called Great Britain. The fourth is found on the northern part of another island called Ireland, which the country known as "Ireland" also shares.

The four nations of the UK are called England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They are not "countries", or even "one country" as they are not independant or sovereign. They are nations instead, collectively called The Home Nations.

They all share a single monarch, in one kingdom - a united kingdom, which is why the sovereign state is so named the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Or UK for short.

England and Scotland were once internationally recognised separate sovereign countries and rivals, but were unified together in a union of crowns, thrones and a single kingdom in 1606 when a Scottish king named James inherited the English throne and kingdom of England, because Queen Elizabeth I of England (a relative of James) was too busy building an Empire and "forgot" to give birth to an heir.

A century later in 1707, under the reign of Queen Anne, England and Scotland were then politically unified with a common parliament based in Westminster, which used to be the seat of the English parliament (Some in Scotland still say it still is!). This is how the sovereign state of Great Britain was formed.

Great Britain is also the geographic and geological name of the ninth largest island in the world, and has England, Wales and Scotland on it. But not Northern Ireland, which is on the neighbouring island of Ireland.

Great Britain was chosen as a neutral name for the unified sovereign state of England, Wales and Scotland - although Scotland was never part of the Roman territory of Britannia, which the island of Great Britain got it's English name from. The Romans, wise as they were, didn't fancy their own chances against the Scots and taking their land which the Roman's called Caledonia, so they built a defensive wall, Hadrian's Wall (named after a Roman Emperor of the time) across the top of Britannia to mark the territorial edge of the Roman Empire.

Wales is not and has never been a country, as it was once a principality that was fully annexed into the Kingdom of England in 1536, and was regarded as part of England during the Unions of 1606 and 1707. In recent times, Wales has been considered a nation of the UK when it got it's own flag for the first time in 1959 during a revival of popular Welsh culture and nationalism. Probably because Prince Charles had been born and he then became Prince of Wales, a title always given to the first-born male heir to the British throne.

Northern Ireland ... well.... depending on your British or Irish viewpoint, it's either one of the four nations of the UK, or are six counties of the Irish province of Ulster that broke away from Ireland in 1921 to rejoin the UK, after Ireland had been given Home Rule (partial independence) in 1921 by the British.

The UK, because it is not a country, does not have an official national flag. No law has ever been passed to create an official one either. Instead, the UK presently unofficially uses a royal sea flag from 1606 called the Union Flag as a "national flag", a flag which was originally created in 1606 to identify King James' (remember him?!) fleet of Royal Navy warships at sea.

The first version of the Union Flag mixed the two patron saint flags of England and Scotland; of Saint George of England and Saint Andrew of Scotland. Because Wales was regarded as part of the Kingdom of England after 1536, it was left out of the first Union Flag design of 1606. And still is.

The Union Flag was also known as a Union Jack (from King James' latin name, Jacobus) and became very easily known and recognised across the globe during the days of the British Empire. It became a defacto "British Flag" through its common use overseas. In 1801, a third patron saint flag was mixed into the Union Flag when Ireland became part of the newly created "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland".

It was actually illegal to fly the Union Flag on land in the UK until only recently when outdated rules were relaxed, as the flag had become popular in modern pop and sports cultures.  But its still illegal to fly it at sea, because the Union Flag is still a royal flag and is property of the Crown and can only be flown from the  jackstaff of Her Majesty's warships of the Royal Navy.

The Union Flag had afterall been created in an era before "national flags" became common elsewhere in the world which used them in revolutions. Which the UK has never had.

However, the four nations of the UK do  have their own official national flags too, mostly derived from religious saints. Some people prefer using their own national flag instead of the Union Flag.

We are a very complicated group of nations to understand, because we do not fit into the usual model of "country". We're not states because we're not in a confederation or a republic, we are a Constitutional Monarchy. And we're not countries because we're not individually sovereign. Only our "UK" identity is, which ironically, isn't a country either....

Edited July 10, 2022 by SarahKB7 Koskinen

[Orwar]

5 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

I feel you are blaming those in the US for your own lack of initiative.

   When there are issues in my country, I place my initiative in the real world rather than try to start a discussion on the awful state of the healthcare system in Sweden (which still beats the US healthcare system by a magnitude, though). I make my opinion heard where it matters and place my democratic vote on the people I believe least incompetent in dealing with the most pressing issues at the time. 

   It's not as if US abortion or LGBTQ+ issues being discussed on the SL forums will make any real difference, any more than me talking about how those darned socialists have caused an energy crisis through their irresponsibly idealistic environmental politics over here would. 

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

4 minutes ago, Jules Catlyn said:

6 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

Can you provide an example of your efforts?

Am i being put on trial now?:)

I don't feel the need at all to do that. I don't have to justify my opinion. If you are a member of this forum, there are plenty of examples that support my claim.

If you make an egregious accusation against others some proof or examples of said infraction would be helpful. How else are we to debate the matter?

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

1 minute ago, Orwar said:

12 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

I feel you are blaming those in the US for your own lack of initiative.

   When there are issues in my country, I place my initiative in the real world rather than try to start a discussion on the awful state of the healthcare system in Sweden (which still beats the US healthcare system by a magnitude, though). I make my opinion heard where it matters and place my democratic vote on the people I believe least incompetent in dealing with the most pressing issues at the time. 

   It's not as if US abortion or LGBTQ+ issues being discussed on the SL forums will make any real difference, any more than me talking about how those darned socialists have caused an energy crisis through their irresponsibly idealistic environmental politics over here would. 

It sounds like you have a different issue from the OP, who would like to discuss matters related to her own country.

As a separate issue though your point is interesting, a question about whether it does any good whatsoever discussing real life matters on the forum.

[Sprout Evergarden]

How about we keep talk on the SL forums about SL stuff. Political arguments are circular and will never be resolved. and the ones that are the most loud mouthed about it on both sides of the fence are a bunch of extremist Totalitarian oiks

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

10 minutes ago, Vanessa Amethyst said:

How about we keep talk on the SL forums about SL stuff. Political arguments are circular and will never be resolved. and the ones that are the most loud mouthed about it on both sides of the fence are a bunch of extremist Totalitarian oiks

I'm not sure these two realms can be separated so easily. For example, we have a discussion going on atm about racist, paramilitary clothes and paraphernalia for sale in SL, an attempt is being made to determine if this is acceptable. We have to know something about real life occurrences to judge the matter accurately.

[Sprout Evergarden]

10 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

I'm not sure these two realms can be separated so easily. For example, we have a discussion going on atm about racist, paramilitary clothes and paraphernalia for sale in SL, an attempt is being made to determine if this is acceptable. We have to know something about real life occurrences to judge the matter accurately.

sure they can these things only bother you if you let them, while on the grid let go of the real world for a while and RELAX because being honest all I saw in that thread was a Call out that is against the rules of this forum

Edited July 9, 2022 by Vanessa Amethyst