The Virtual Economy

Warning: This blog is long and boring but has brief references to World of Warcraft and Muse.

When looking at economics and industry there are three basic divisions.

Primary Industry: Resource Extraction, Mining, Forestry, Agriculture, Fishing
Secondary Industry: Manufacturing, Construction, etc.
and Tertiary Industry: Retail, Services, Banking

Quaternary Industry: I will be focusing on Tertiary Industry which makes up over 60% of the economic output of developed nations. Specifically I will focus on the sector of the tertiary industry that some have dubbed the Quaternary Industry. The tentatively named Quaternary sector is the sector of the economy devoted to development and sharing of information. This includes a wide range of services from the internet, to research and development, to entertainment, to education. This sector is all about buying and selling information, knowledge and ideas (which in itself seems an odd phrase). Its weird to consider the fact that in a society where we consider thought to be free, something as intangible as an idea can be bought or sold. Aside from that, where is the resource to back it up? Should we be concerned that a majority of our economy is based on immaterial information locked up in peoples brains as well as fragile servers that crap out if a stray dust particle lands on them?

Virtual Economies: Its an idea I've toyed with for years, since I saw the first online communities pop up. It is the idea that virtual goods and information could be bought and sold from an online world that could in theory develop its own economy. Of course we aren't talking a world-class currency (yet) but these do exist. Second Life is a virtual world which boasts its own virtual currency and economy. Citizens, who comprise a wide variety of nationalities pay in for the services which the Second Life world supplies and some companies even make money from Second Life services. Essentially Second Life has imports and exports as well as an internal economy despite being a completely virtual non-existent world. Other examples of virtual economies are not so complex, like online MMoRPGs such as World of Warcraft where virtual economies develop out of the illegal trade of in game items for real money. These pay to play games reflect a different side of the virtual economy though.

Entertainment: The entertainment sector of the quaternary industry revolves around a lot of services, including music, video games, and movies. In most cases these economic interactions represent the end of the line with final sale and with an increasing dedication to digital media there is no resale value in these purchases. Essentially in the past 10 years entertainment has become a service, and in some cases just a transfer of information, rather than a tangible product. This is entirely due to the internet which has even gone so far as to remove certain facets of entertainment from the economy almost entirely as pirating the latest Muse CD becomes more and more popular to the frugal consumer.

The Internet: This is the least tangible of all. Imagine this, you pay a subscription to a website that gets paid by advertisers who are selling domain names and server space to a company that sold the web design to the website you're currently viewing. Cyclical and confusing is the nature of the internet economy. It is based solely on the growth of the internet which at the present moment, almost every industry in the world depends on. Almost all business interactions (legitimate or not) rely on the internet in some way. Companies put money into the growth of the internet and in turn the receive services which potentially make them money. Other companies, some of the wealthiest, Google, have made the majority of their money solely on the internet, their goods and services locked up in servers and data. If I had to hazard a guess how much money is locked up in the internet I would have no idea where to start, considering the vicious cycles I outlined above and the fact that all industries seem to now rely on the internet.

The Implications:
-most of our economy is based on fragile things knowledge, data, info., etc.
-we don't have any concrete resource to back up these services
-these are entirely new untested, unquestioned industries except for education

Concerns: Should we be concerned for the economic stability of such a system? If billions of dollars are on the line is the threat of cyber-terrorism significant? What back-ups are in place in the event of cyber-disaster? Can we maintain the internet economy? There is little economic theory on the subject, maybe because its not a problem. I have only a vague understanding of economics but it seems to me that too much money is tied up in services that cannot be backed up with resources. If you want to be guaranteed a job in the event of a cyber-disaster, go into the primary or secondary industry, preferably on a local scale.

These are the unintelligible, unorganized thoughts on current economics by an average blogger, hope you enjoyed.

Why Polygamy?

I suppose there are many reasons for polygamy. First and foremost is the traditional feminist view that polygamy is simply a result of patriarchal misogyny in a chauvinistic society. It is a way for men to control women and oppress and suppress them. In this ideology polygamy is portrayed as the ultimate way to objectify women; females become collector's items. Are there positive attributes to polygamy though?

Some would argue that polygamy does not show a disrespect for women, rather the opposite. While on the surface it seems that women become objects most polygamist marriages only exist provided the man is able to provide equally for his new and his old wife. While in a world with large feminist influences this seems wrong condemning women to be the dependents of men, in most polygamist societies the women are not fully capable of providing for themselves. So is a man in the wrong for taking on more than one wife? In polygamist societies a man is highly respected based on the number of wives he has, not because he is living some erotic polygamist fantasy but because he is capable of caring for so many people in his life.

Along with the current moral implications of plural marriage in the world, the past and origins must be taken into consideration. What is the societal imperative for polygamy? Well without digging too far it is evident. What conditions would make it important that one man marry many women? Polygamy exists in many primitive and sometimes warring societies. These are societies where men are scarce; gone off to be killed in warfare or in the hunt. However, women in polygamist societies are much safer and stay at home where they provide caring for families and cook for men. Because of this the gender demographic can become skewed. The only logical solution, in which marriage is imperative to community, is for men to take on multiple wives.

However, the unfortunate truth about modern polygamy is that it is not done out of necessity. Many young males are forcibly excommunicated to reduce competition for wives as gender demographics are more equal in modern polygamist groups, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Groups such as these seem to be dominated by chauvinist patriarchs who wish to maintain a needless hierarchy. While this is not morally accepted these groups do experience certain benefits. Polygamists enclaves tend to enjoy a higher sense of community as they all tend to rally around the a small number of patriarchs and the a small set of surnames, so simple personal events such as funerals can host 1000s of people in an otherwise small town.

Maybe there will be imperative for polygamy in our society one day. It is possible that with another World War the Western World could see a dramatic decrease in the population of males proportionately to females. In such a case plural marriages will begin to look more appealing. Though if past conflict is any indication, and with present trends of reduced casualties in modern warfare, I doubt we'll see a significant downturn in male population proportionately to women for quite some time.

Becoming Legendary

Everyone knows them. Those bands that are legendary. Their members, household names. Their music, anthems of a generation. Who are the legends? Unarguably, The Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones, The Who.

Even today decades later, you'll be hard-up trying to find a person who can't sing a single Beatles song. Between Lennon and McCartney they wrote the greatest, most recognized yet diverse library of music in history. Because of the sheer volume and variety of music there are few people who cannot be touched by the music of the Beatles. From McCartney's "Yesterday" to "I Am the Walrus" the Beatles have something for everyone. They lead a revolution among musicians, where they may have lacked in musical complexity or deep lyrical meaning they raised the bar for performance, style and innovation.

As for Queen, they're songs "We Will Rock You" "We Are The Champions" and "Another One Bites The Dust" have become anthems that have transcended generations. Like the Beatles, Queen and especially Freddie Mercury raised the bar for stage performance. The Cult of Personality surrounding Freddie Mercury with his eccentric style and his eventual struggle for life has certainly been a deciding factor in Queen's legendary status. The lasting impact the late Freddie Mercury and his band have had on music is staggering; they really meant what they were saying in "The Show Must Go On."

The Rolling Stones have had a similar effect as the former two. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with their life-long dedication to deviancy (with songs questionably named "Brown Sugar") are synonymous with fame, excess and fortune in the world. The only thing that could have boosted their legendary status is if Keith Richards had died of a drug overdose 20 years ago. Then again its their (partially) intact band that has probably kept them in the spotlight over the years, where some bands peter out because of petty squabbles, deaths and break-ups the Rolling Stones have maintained a good relationship and a steady flow of fame.

Finally The Who, is definitely a legendary band. Enjoying worldwide fame The Who got us rocking with catchy, goofy songs like "Pinball Wizard" and they defined a generation in their song "My Generation." I think another good measure of their legendary status is tonight's Super Sunday (Don't wanna get sued, d:) Half-time Show in which they played their iconic songs "Who Are You" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." With CSI being an avid advertiser of The Who in modern day America, they remain a household name, enjoying the status of legendary.

While there are more that could fit into the description of Legendary, and possibly even better. These are four examples of legendary bands. Using these bands as a model, with their accessibility, innovation, style, stage presence and personality, can we predict the legendary bands of the future? What bands that we listen to today, will be become immortal? A few bands are on their way.

U2 has a familiar sound, a unique personality and Bono is a household name. There are few people who don't own or know and enjoy U2's music. Though, there are some who would wager that U2 has reached its peak in fame, having been formed in the 70s, and that it's music is not accessible enough to the masses. They could go the Queen route, having less accessible music but a cult of personality surrounding the lead and a habit of extravagant stage performances. With continued success and nurturing of Bono's reputation U2 could become the next in a line of truly legendary bands.

Another band to keep your eye on is Muse. Straight out of Britain and relatively new, Muse is gaining popularity in the United States and the world with play-time in the Twilight movie. Its semi-unfortunate that their State-side fame comes from this source but it could have its ups. With young women who watched Twilight getting into Muse, they could enjoy some of the same fortune that lead the Beatles to legendary status, the sex appeal and the faint female fans. Muse is by far the most atypical candidate though. They are a truly innovative band and the have a complex but accessible sound. If Muse were to gain legendary status, it would be a glorious day in the Renaissance of Rock.

This is all I have the energy to write today, so I'll beg the question... What bands do you think will gain legendary status in the future, and what bands do you think already have?

Emmanuel Jal: Warchild

Its that time again. My [tentative] finale MMoM post. Well technically I've never done this before, as the last M stands for month, and I've just begun doing monthly musicians, so really its the first time. BUT NEVERMIND THAT! This is the [possible] finale, so we'll go back to the beginning. I started with his most recent single "We Fall" a shining example of his newer work. Then you heard his earliest single "Gua" a raw beat with heavy African influence. You also heard his little-known song "50 Cent" which is another shiny example of his new work. Finally, you'll hear one of his earlier break-out singles "Warchild." This song is less hip hop and more spoken word poetry. The words are chilling, the beat chaotic. The effect is obviously light years short of the transient (non-existent) peace and happiness experienced by a Sudanese child soldier, but Emmanuel Jal effectively disturbs and concerns listeners with this song."I believe I’ve survived for a reason … to tell my story to touch lives."

Emmanuel Jal- Warchild.


Aha, I'm kinda feeling this might not be the finale... I might squeeze another in tomorrow. There's so much I realized I've missed!

Off-topic Monday!

Today's blog is about... cats. They only like you for your warmth! Its true, for all their "affection" and "kindness" they only stick around if you're warm and cuddly like a teddy bear in the campfire. Did you ever hear about that psychic cat that lived in an old-folks home? Yeah, it apparently always sat on the beds of patients that were about to kick the bucket. What no one realized is that these people either had an extremely high fever or they were under a heat-blanket because they were wasting away. So the cat naturally gravitated towards the warmest possible place which happened to be the beds of folks looking towards greener pastures. Nothing Satanic or Demonic, just cold, calculating instinct and self-preservation. My cat sits on me, when I'm warm, but he'll lie on the rough metal heat duct over me any day of the week if the furnace is burning. Don't get me wrong, I love cats like I like painfully forced metaphors. But the reason is, I have great respect for their independence. They don't need love they just need a nice sun-beam, some litter, some nasty food and the occasional cracknip. Dogs have loyalty, but who cares, cats are the ultimate in self-serving survivers!

PS started the tentative final edition of my three blogs, the Deserted Diviner on which I posted a nice review about the movie "The Road." Readers will love how I completely missed the major points of the movie and took it at face value.

MMoM [24.01.10] + Let it be noted

That at this moment in time, I do not care about anything worldly or political. I'm too tired. My brain is shutting down. All I think of, if anything is frivolity. I feel like... 50 cent. Like I could glorify the ghetto. That is if I'd ever even been in the ghetto, much less experienced the gangster life. Anyway, this is my excuse to play this song by Emmanuel Jal. Its a shout out to 50 cent and like-minded rappers to change their ways. Its a condemnation of the modern hip hop scene and all that corporate stuff. Not that I care, as I said before. Really, its just a mildly catchy song, with no important meaning especially to me.

"50 Cent" Emmanuel Jal.

Girls Don't Like Space.

Its true. Girls don't like space. And I'm not talking emotional space, ones personal bubble. I'm talking outer space. The final frontier. Take a poll of all the women you know, chances are if they are under 30, 99% don't have any interest in space whatsoever. Female: space is boring, empty and space travel a pointless and unexciting endeavor. Now that's not to say that all men and boys love space, but the number of boys who grow up idolizing astronauts is markedly higher than the number of girls. What is it about the male psyche that draws them to outer space? A cold, inhospitable, desolate void where nothing can logically survive without mechanical life support (even this point is argued against by Star Trek. See, space whales). What is the appeal? Is it the science, or is it the adventure? Or some combination thereof? In the 1500s did the boys all rave about the New World, adventures and untold riches while the girls scoffed at them and played hopscotch? Who's to know? Of course, there are female astronauts, female space enthusiasts, it just seems they are quite rare, especially in this time of space stagnation. And truly my interest in space was only sparked after going to the Kennedy Space Center and seeing the Shuttle launch in the third grade. Somewhere along the way I forgot my dream of being an astronaut though. I could have been on my way to the moon or Mars, isolated from the bulk of humanity for years at a time. So yeah, there are some downs, but I can't see how you can't recognize the excitement of the adventure. The prospect of doing something completely new and untried. Of breaking the limits of human exploration and forging new and exciting goals. In the end, this post has nothing to do with gender, just a growing disinterest in space exploration in today's world. My friend wrote it much better; it sounds much less sexist than my own. Here it is: Classic Renaissance: The Space Age (Warning: May contain painfully forced metaphors and pedantic douchebaggery.)