Government Rears Its Ugly Head

Historically, most burgeoning democratic legislative bodies must face the issue of class, the conflict of representing the haves versus the have nots. For this reason, the concept of a bicameral legislative branch was invented. It serves to at least maintain the appearance that the legislative body is truly representative of the interests of both rich and poor.

As many of you realize, we now have a tool that can revolutionize representative government. Most of us don't yet fully grasp the implications of the communication revolution on governing. Nonetheless, we in the VRML community now seemingly have the opportunity to practice such social democracy on a small scale. It appears, however, that the major decisions regarding the future of VRML will be made by those with the money, large corporations who can afford the prohibitive amount required to become a voting member of the VRML Consortium. Those paying voters may or may not choose to listen to the people who can't afford to buy into the system -- the working group members -- and whether they do or not will probably be a matter of convenience or conviction. They will be compelled to act out of the kindness of their hearts, the genius of a proposal or monetary advantage.

For those who cannot buy a vote, the key is, as always, involvement.

Money is not entirely evil. It supports many things. The community relies on benefactors to supports its endeavors. Those with money may have profit as their ultimate goal, but the creators decide which of those monied benefactors will give them parameters in which they wish to work. Some of the greatest works of painting and sculpture were created on commission under the auspices of rich benefactors (e.g. the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel).

Many have theorized representation was a kluge for true democracy, which has been unimplementable up until now. Let us not discover that the kluge was ultimately for laziness. We all have the opportunity to use the medium to get involved. Let's do so.

John Gluck -- Editor-in-Chief