I live in "Virtualia"

I live in Santiago, Chile, but I am finding that every day I am more in another country, which I named “Virtualia” (as happens in many of these obvious names, it is already owned by someone, but not used).

Virtualia is the biggest country in the world, with 2 billion inhabitants. It has the most dynamic economy in the World, growing consistently at a two-digit rate. It creates 2.6 jobs for each one it destroys. It moved 8 trillion dollars worth of commerce in year 2010. It is especially good for Small & Medium companies (SMEs). Its GDP is already bigger than that of Canada, and by year 2040 should be the wealthiest nation in the World.

In Virtualia we are all equal. As long as you can get inside, it doesn´t matter what race, gender, economic status, country, or religion you have. It doesn´t matter if you got inside from the last Apple geek or an old PC, if it is at 512 kbps or 100 mbps in fiber optics. Once you are in, you are equal to any other who is in. We all have access to the same information, the same tools, the same apps. We can find and share information, look for a job, contact anyone, start a company, innovate, give our opinion in anything, be part of any group which is fostering any cause…

In Virtualia there is real freedom. Even for people who come from countries where freedom of speech is not granted, in Virtualia they have more freedom than outside it. There is freedom of communication, freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of circulation from one place of Virtualia to any other. You may have your saying anytime, anywhere on any issue. But also, it is a responsible participation, since anything you say is recorded. Each one is accountable for what each one said or did. You may change sides, though, and it will be okay. You may be bullied, but you can deal with it.  

In Virtualia we work networked. We cooperate voluntarily in whatever projects appeal to us and want to join. We do it many times just for the sake of it, just to be helpful. Other times, we do it for a pay. We do not need offices, nor to go to work anywhere: we can work from everywhere. We discuss matters, at times sourly, but there is never bloodshed. We have built a basic consensus on what is right and what is wrong, which we mostly share. We have our own Agenda: it is not put by the Government, or the politicians, or the big corporations. It’s ours. We have been able to outburst authoritarian governments, stopped bills to be passed, change authorities. Those corporations which have tried to interfere and use our data have had to backup immediately. We are only 6 clicks away from each other: a fact that all the self serving powerful in the World should take notice.

Nobody can claim to have Virtualia’s command. We have no government, and we need it as least as possible. Our social dynamism, our huge innovation push, our economic growth has had nothing to do with Government policies, save for granting access and leaving us do the rest. Virtualia is really a place for the people, by the people and with the people, at its base. Those “inalienable rights” that the Founders of the USA talk about (life, freedom and the pursue of happiness) are not cheap talk, but real for those who seek them. So the “liberté, egalité, fraternité” is no slogan in Virtualia, but a reality. We know they don´t come out of the blue, and we must work for them, but they are there. That was genuinely in the minds of the Founding Fathers of Virtualia, and it has worked ever since. This is the first bloodless revolution of humankind!

We are making the education revolution in Virtualia. We are making a Society and an Economy based in inherent, intangible assets of the human race: talents. Our goal is that all those who dwell in Virtualia can develop those talents with which they were gifted from the moment of their creation, because we know that if it happens, we will all benefit from it. So, we are working at new educational models that grant a universal, customized, quality and low cost education, that can be accessible for anyone. We are conscious that education is “the” big tool that will grant wealth to all inhabitants of Virtualia. And we are not satisfied to have 2 billion inhabitants: we miss the 5 billion which still cannot come here.

There is also evil in Virtualia. Not all is rosy. But we know that, until the ends of time, wheat and tares will grow side by side. The advantage we have is that we are connected, and therefore better prepared to combat evil, which is coward by nature. And since we are so many, we are able each day to have better results in our quest; despite we know it will never be totally erased.

There are billions of people who still have no chance to dwell in Virtualia: those are our goal to get inside. There are millions of decision-makers who resist what Virtualia is bringing along because they feel threatened. They don’t realize that Virtualia is becoming more apparent each day, and that the World they think there is will be different. “Indignados” don´t want to live as they do in “tangible” life. They want to live as they do in Virtualia.

Alfredo Barriga

PS: for those who still don´t get it, Virtualia is an intangible place where two billion people spend a great part of their lives