BM

I've never been, but hopefully someday I will.

My question is, why do 30,000 people show up in the desert, but it's like pulling teeth to get them to show up to lift a finger against our own government, who we pay the taxes of, to murder people all over the world?

I think it's wonderful, and an amazing thing that the place is growing and evolving - the "Another World is Possible" coming under our noses with no one really noticing - but a part of me is also annoyed. This is just me, my genes - I know what I'm saying is one-sided: I want everyone to be trying to stop the creeping fascism as we head into Chile via deceptions like Howard Dean. But can't they do anything to help, AS WELL AS playing in the desert?

The fact is, the people I know who went to the desert, didn't go to the streets. I know there were a lot who did go to the streets, but the ones I know didn't. Nonetheless, they can plan for an entire year for their week to play in the sand.

This is what America is.

I'm not criticizing burningman, just venting my frustration at things in general.

Even mainstream newspapers are covering the atrocities of things like the incredible scam going on with our voting system, but the same people who spend a week in the desert trying to make a new and different world will also calmy and quietly submit their 'smart card' into the fraudulent Diebold machines and go home to watch 'West Wing.'

I know them, and it pisses me off.

no dollar economy? except the what, $200 or so it costs to get in, plus all the $ that goes into ensuring you can survive out there - water, transport, food, shade, RVs, couches, etc. etc. i'd love to see a lot more of the energy that gets spent on BM going to stuff here in the city ... and not just $15+ BM fundraisers beforehand. i do think it's good that people can experience community, etc. out there, but the price does make it an elitist event.

Yes, I've never been out there, but it's very pretty in eastern oregon, Nevada etc. The thing with burningman is that it ends up very demographically biased - there aren't many kids or old people or poor people. People go blow their artistic energy for the year among other people in their 20s and 30s who probably went to college and have access to renting big vehicles etc. and then they can return back to their jobs and their day-to-day physical environment in big cities hasn't changed much as a result of their art.

i've been to burningman on and off since 1999, and i have alot of conversations with people about the politics, or apolotics, that revolve around the event.

BMan is a revoulationary idea, loosely based on a TAZ (teomprary autonomous zone), that tries to downplay consumerism, spectators, and the use of money in this wild week-long culture.

I have a lot of friends, some poor artist/activists, that go there every year. They tend to work somehow for a free ticket in. I know other people that go out there for vacation from their kids and jobs. They tend to have money, be liberal, but not activists. I also know people that see themselves living an alternative lifestyle based on a disrespect for authroity, few rules, art, and hard drinking (these guys tend to relate to the cacophony society type of full-time artists). these types of burners go into debt every year, get grants for art budgets, and get free tickets in.

that all being said, i am constantly shocked by the apolitical atmosphere at burningman, but have to remind myself that alot of these people are here to FORGET reality for a week. Alot of the burners are taking radical ideas and creating them in the dessert as well (DIY everything out there!)

I tend to live my life revolved around trying to do the proper thing for future generations, so the waste, pollution, and disregard for the environment at Burningman always gets me going. Still there are lots of burners that are all about replacing the dessert to its pristine look after the partiers leave (DIY Earth Guardians).

Last year, I camped with artists/activists/anarchists. Two years before that, I camped with lawyers, economists, and engineers. I must say that I had good times with everyone, but to be in a politically charged camp last year was much more satisfying. They live the lifestyle on the playa and in San Francisco, rather than going home and hitting raves until next Labor Day (of course some of those lawyers are activists in their day jobs). We promoted the Spearhead 911 event, played funk/hip hop (Burningman sorely lacks a variety of music other than trance/techno), and networked with other artists/activists there...and partied hard of course.

I went last year for the third time and was impressed by the activism that seemed more noticable that year. there were a few really good antiwar/anti911 art pieces. a naked pregnant woman gave out flyers about child abduction at the center camp. lots of the adbusters corporate USA flags everywhere.

When my more politically active friends mention apolitical Bruningman, i respond by saying that we need to be the ones to get that radical element into a more politically minded frame of thinking. i've decided that the next time i go, my art will be political, like it usually is here in SF.

Hell, being a freak for a week is something that my East Coast friends would never dream of doing. I've shown photos to my Republican parents and they've connected to the spectacle b/c I showed them photos of things that interest them (art cars, crazy art, etc.). So if Burningman can open up my conservative parents, then its a radical thing going.

One thing about Burningman is that it ain't all cut and dry. If you haven't been, you'll never quite grasp the fractal of cultures, ideas, and radical expressions that go on amongst the partying and reverlry. True, most people are white and can afford to drop $200 to $500 for a week in the dessert, but I see about the same mix of people that I see at larger protests (mostly white).

Oh, I know plenty of poor activists that sneak in to Burningman (tricky but it happens)...and if food and water's an issue, you can usually volunteer at camps, work a little (which is hard to do) and get free/cheap food.

Hope this opens up things for all of you who haven't been.