Waving Goodbye to CDS

A Virtual Sundown Town

 

 

The Civil Rights struggle in CDS 
why CDS only has five sims today

 

 

 

Tor says: "the xigalia's are back again" , Pip says : "that's easy enough, Run 'em outta town", Gaius and Pat say: "last time was easy, let's have some fun"

 

About Sundown towns:

 [quote]"In some cases, the exclusion was official town policy or through restrictive covenants agreed to by the real estate agents of the community. In others, the policy was enforced through intimidation. This intimidation could occur in a number of ways, including harassment by law enforcement officers." *[/quote]

 

 I had a hard time putting the puzzle pieces together when I saw so much yellow on the map in CDS in 2011 2012 and 2013. I thought CDS was a wonderful place to live in the mid  to late 2000s ... we had a blast with the democracy experiment, found it a breath of fresh air from the rest of SL and enjoyed the intellectual stimulation  and challenge of the "democracy experiment" as well as the friends we made in CDS.   It was fun !  The best part of secondlife to me !  So how could it be so empty ? I  know the world economy had a bit of a slump, but our SL business was booming ! So I came back in 2011 to a CDS that I didn't know anymore. It looked the same, sorta,  but wow ! Place was really different it seemed. The laws weren't being followed like they used to be. There seemed to be a small group who had total power over the land and used all five sims as their own. I never had rez powers over land unless I was working on something specific before .. rezzing something on public land took government approval but, yet. ... people not even elected seemed to be using land as their own. The covenents were not being followed. Vacant parcels were being used as playgrounds..  Not only public land, but vacant parcels !!!!    And I heard they didn't even have elections all the time , much less debates. Because not enough people were participating, and the worst part was... They seemed happy about it ! 

I asked questions, and I heard more than one person in  the CDS group explain to me how it was important that we all know each other well in CDS and how the thing that mattered more was who we are and how we all get along more than the government and the constitution and the rules. And that this is just a "quiet time " for CDS, disregard the fact that the land is half vacant and the tier isn't being covered, its okay to be quiet... "Sudane doesn't mind" I was told. I was told that following the rules wasn't necessary if we all know and trust each other. In fact, the government part of CDS, its more of a burden than anything and we really could do with less of it, not more. 

 

 Well .. hmm..they all made it sound so lovely and peaceful. Consensus.  A place where we all know each other, don't need laws or rules, don't have to bother to have meetings or debate... mess with protocol. It sounded nice for the ones who were doing it ...if half the parcels in five sims are vacant.. and a person can buy one.. pay 1400 L a month for it, a little less a little more,  and have rez rights on the government and vacant land! Well! For them, what a deal! And a huge pot of money to buy things for public land, and getting paid to do events.. Best deal in sl.. what do you do when you find a great deal ? Well if telling everyone will end it for you ? maybe stay quiet about it?  The more vacant land the better !   

 If the RA has at least three who members are five friends who have no disagreements, what's the point in the meeting ! In fact by the end of the 19^th term, it got so bad..... two RA members couldn’t show up at all, leaving three people in RA to serve anyway, so great, only two of the remaining have to agree now !  The two who left btw  were encouraged NOT to resign so we didn’t have a by election, even though  they were not able to log into SL. Basically we had a three member RA. Leaving the chancellor with two cronies who could rubber stamp anything non constitutional he wanted to do. All they had to do was have three people show up to a RA meeting.

 Over the three years, CDS was certainly in decline in every way.. to the point of being almost dead it seemed. That was how it looked from the outsider looking in at least. The people inside saw it as doing well!  No biggie, sell off a sim, raise tier.. we are fine, they said!  And really, why debate things…they said , we all agree… if we all think alike or just give in to our friend to make them happy , right or wrong.. then...Sounded like paradise to them, something worth fighting to keep…  but it sounded like anarchy to me.. and maybe even a covert dictatorship but certainly not a DEMOCRACY.  Not the CDS I remembered.

Especially disturbing to me was that the person who "owned the CDS on paper" the land and the money, was without reproach.. What I mean is there was and still an unspoken rule of the group : it is  TABOO to speak anything but kind words to and about the person who owns CDS on paper.. People are seen in meetings to flower the EO with glowing praise that contradicts the persons known preferences. And certainly anyone who dares ask a question that could shed light on something done by the EO is bombarded with nastys.   I mean the person is okay and has volunteered a lot but .. the TABOO was quite powerful and so strong you could taste it.

I moved back to CDS anyway in 2011 and tried to help with the problems in CDS, as confusing as it was to me. The real problem was that CDS was half empty, I thought it was logical that they would want CDS full. Everyone kept saying they were doing thing to try to promote CDS, but it wasn't working. But I kept seeing things happening that seemed to indicate that even though they said they wanted it to grow, well, they really didn't.

 So at first I feel like I am a blind man trying to discover what is the elephant... I wonder why the sims are half empty ... when I know they will sell easily... I hear talk of trying to sell them.. but I see them running people off... its all so confusing ...I had to find out for myself. Is CDS unable to be sold. Is it not desirable anymore to the grid at large.  I found that CDS was spending a lot of money on ads that didn't work at all, but infact the owner of the radio station who has the ads also owned a sim which the chancellor and one of the EMs lived in... hmmmm>>???? maybe its nothing..i told myself. I did some research on it…  As I uncovered bits and bobs of information about whats going on . Reading the financial statements, asking questions. Why is someone in the SC getting  paid many  times the going rate to DJ ( and is in the SC and  a good friend of the CDS owner?) hmm… I learned quickly don’t ask that question ! …   

 I kept trying to be positive, maybe they don't know how to sell land... ???   its not that hard… But  I found out that also if I just made a tiny effort to bring people to CDS ... they loved the idea and moved there ! The I was actually  asked to help bring people to CDS at one point.. but when I did it  and did it well ….... I was told to stop . Then  I was bullied.  A member of the RA started griefing me and my husband.   A LOT ! I was frequently lied about and called names. It was odd, they said they wanted CDS to grow.. but they didn't want it to grow ? Or maybe they just don’t like me. Fair enough…. Only the "right kind of people" should be in CDS ? Not my friends.huh? . but I wasn't just showing cds to my friends, I was simply asking anyone who was interested in CDS from anywhere I met them to move to CDS. ..In appropriate groups, and such ... So the sims were full again.. despite them saying to stop selling land, despite them saying that  i should stop ...because .. CDS is my home too !   So .. they continued to bully me and everyone I helped get there..... to the point I left, too,  and after I did they ran the rest of the new people off, unless they agreed to ONE thing. If they didn't agree to own the idea, they had to shut up or  leave. ... CDS, Sundown Town.  So I left.  When I left the five sims were full, I had filled them up with the help of some friends, but we were all being harassed and bullied to get to leave. So ... I did.

I peeked at the forums from time to time during my absence, hoping that CDS would grow and thrive while I was gone.  But at some point I read that Tor was going to raise tier. Or sell of LA . So I came back.

Without CLEO around no one showed up seriously wanting to join CDS very often, and if they did they could be either ignored or indoctrinated.. and sent away if they didn't follow the lockstep.. Factions were removed, RA shrunk to five, no reason to have the legitmization of diverse thought when we have but one way of looking at things and all the people we need anyway ….. And our way of seeing things is right. and cant be questioned. ....

 I read one day on the forums that my former home, CDS was about to consider either getting rid of an entire region... and/ or raise tiers to stay in the black ...................I was sad. ............................such a neat place.............................how could it be, it was so easy to bring people to cds only  two years before........................things were better even now than then in the economy.....they were quite mean to me before but surely they need help selling land, I know I can help … and also CDS might be lost ! it was about to SHRINK …………………...........I had to know why.

So I logged in and was met by TOR.. still chancellor. And he told me not to return to CDS………..whoAAAaaat ! !    He said they didn’t want me.   Leave. ( I didn’t know then that my name was on a coffin in the kirche. )    Most of the square in CN was for sale.  I stood in some of the parcels looking around. ... the next day the parcels were sold to Pip or Shep or someone ..  .. and that was good !  I didn't really think that they were buying them to keep them from me. I hoped the problem was getting solved. … It was good that less land was for sale. That was my goal, help CDS grow. But not just in numbers of parcels sold, numbers of Citizens.  

We needed more people to fill offices in the government, not to shrink the government like they had done, I thought. So finally I bought a shop in CDS. It was successful and a friend wanted a shop next door... Then another. .. meanwhile I noticed that Gauis was doing his best to harass Alexia, who finally left CDS due to the Guild and RA, especially Rosie Gray. Alexia had had a shop in CDS for a long, long time , but didn't really follow the lockstep of the group from what I saw....l . Was CDS still a sundown town..i didn't want to believe it.  But indeed it still was. The new citizens were being picked off and harassed, again,  one by one. But this was a new crop of people. More aware.  More mature. And the “gang” was so bold by then after being in power so long. Is it true that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” ? That the “three year reign of Tor” had turned into a REIGN?   A reign of bullies and terrorists condoned by the leader of a tight knit group, all under the nose of the one who had the EO rights.   I hoped it wasn't. I saw it was.  That was the end of the 19th RA term. I ran for RA in the 20th to try to make sure it never was a sundown town again .

 

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CLEO Xigalia is running for RA again !

Last Term I ran on the platform CLEO1CDS .. for the 20th RA and it was a success! I have served on the 20th RA graciously and now am asking the citizens of CDS to vote for me 1 again for the 21st RA of CDS.


ONE ..........................citizens number one !
SIX ............................lets work as a  unified CDS team and  build our sixth sim !
TEN............................Actively celebrate ten years of CDS history and the journey to our success.

As we celebrate and rediscover the CDS ten year history, lets use that to move us into the future.


As far as the future of CDS.. it is BRIGHT!   We are an active growing community now and the general tone of things is that people want CDS to IMPROVE! and GROW! and THRIVE! and be FUN!

And citizens feel empowered to have a voice and make an impact and make these things happen and enjoy the rewards of their efforts.

Democracy thrives !

New citizens are participating in their community and their government.

The forums are being monitored and becoming a place where all of

We have accomplished a lot this term in the RA.


I'd say one of the most important thing that happened in the 20th RA was that the RA voted to make sure that the plan for LA did not disrupt any parcels and that citizens land lines and builds were left intact. This was a resounding SUCCESS.  With Gwyn as my partner in the RA and Bagheera as chancellor,  in this effort, we were able to make sure the "power-block" of Tor Rosie and Shep did not vote to use eminent domain or compulsory purchase order with the citizens. We recently got to see a transcript of a meeting that revealed clearly that this was their plan.  Our success for CDS citizens is that no one had their land taken or parcel lines moved.

Now its time to move forward and build a new sim for CDS. I am promoting buying a new sim now and making it a community project that builds cohesion in our community like nothing ever has before. Between Celebrating our TENTH ANNIVERSARY and building our SIXTH SIM there will much for everyone to do who wants to help!