Social media seems to be laughing its ass off about this tragedy, is it because the folks at burning man are perceived as frivolous hippies or something? Everyone I’ve ever met who was a regular burning man attendee has been a solid human being with strong morals, personally and financially responsible, a career. Upstanding members of society for sure. I guess all some people know is the sensationalized drugs and sex. A person died. This is a tragedy for an event that brings positivity into the world. Kind of annoyed.
That’s pretty much stripping all relevant context from the situation. The rains are absolutely a big deal for a special campout-celebration that’s held in a fairly hostile natural location, with ground that becomes disastrous in terms of movement when there’s heavy rain.
It would be one thing if BM was just a frivolous celebration, but it’s heavily art-oriented, creative in nature, and meaningful for a whole bunch of folks who are trying to engage in something special once a year. So it’s not The Holocaust, no, but more than just the loss of the festival, there’s still some real danger going on for hundreds of folks right now.
I approve of this abbreviation.
Removed by mod
AFAIK it’s a dried-up lake bed that rarely experiences this kind of thing during BM week.
Maybe I’m wrong, tho.
Removed by mod
Pard, you sure as shootin’ got that part right.
And I’ve barely been following this year’s event at all. If heavy rains were indeed predicted, then it seems to me that at the very least, the organisers have some pretty colossal questions to answer.
Removed by mod
Much of what I’ve read confirms things you’re saying, and to be clear, I’ve never been there myself. I’ve only read about the event, including first-hand accounts, and seen video footage.
My point about the rain is that in the immediate days preceding the event, surely the organisers had a chance to examine the weather report and realise that at the very least, a strong advisory should have been sent out, or maybe even the festival cancelled. Also, is it possible they didn’t know how treacherous the soil there could get with heavy rain?
Removed by mod
Thanks for the extensive writeup, and if I understand you correctly, there’s more or less *way* too much momentum of various kinds for any group in particular to call the event off even knowing that harsh weather was about to hit.
So if you’re a participant you can acknowledge that this year’s event kind of sucked, but that it was still worth it on the whole. Do I have that right?
One other thing-- I notice some people calling the event a ‘rich person’s event,’ as if to imply the whole thing is frivolous, and that it’s of no consequence that this one was ‘rained out.’ Thoughts?
I know old burners, none of them went this year, nor the last few years. They have other smaller events they go to now that retains the old feel of Burning Man. It is very much frivolous now.
Okay, what makes it frivolous now?
Alcohol is common now, the art is ignored by a lot of people, people just aren’t as generally sociable. From what I can see, it’s morphed into something that’s less about sharing and showing art, into showing off and partying. I am not a habitual burner, so leaning on stories and photos from friends, and maybe the prior years were just off years, and I missed the year that brought it back to its roots… but somehow I doubt it.
Ugh, yeah, that sounds plenty disappointing. :S
Brother, Burning Man is an excuse for a bunch of people to do a fuckton of drugs out in the middle of the desert.
Burning Man has never been anything other than a monument to excess. It is, if anything, a poignant statement regarding humanity.
Am I happy people are struggling? No. But I’d be lying if I didn’t think they deserve it. Maybe the survivors will spend their free time better. Probably not, it’ll just end up meaning poor people are allowed less and less in coming years.
I’m not debating that drug use, alcohol and sex don’t go on there, but what consenting adults do is their business IMO. For that matter, huge swaths of the rural and semi-rural States seem to be given over to that sort of thing, too, and I think that’s of far more concern than a one week festival, brother.
Regardless, I’ve seen plenty of footage and pics, and there’s undeniably loads of creativity, art projects, chance meetings between interesting people, and the tribal-experiential aspect going on at BM. I happen to think all that stuff’s pretty damn cool, and I feel no need to dismiss the whole thing just because I’m on some moral high ground from afar.
“Art” flocks to places like that because of rich people with too much money doing dumb shit… like partying in the middle of the desert.
Furthermore what makes you think what I’ve said would result in me not condemning those in the south as well? What is this whataboutist bullshit?
I’m not even going to touch the “tribal experiential” bit.
Sounds like a pretty facile, cynical, and plain inaccurate way of looking at the tradition:
https://lemm.ee/comment/3200143
Fine, but calling it a tragedy takes away from actual tragedies.
For who? I understood that when he called it a “tragedy,” it was heavily based on his POV and emotions at the time. That’s about as innocuous as it gets, and isn’t going to change anything across the world IMO.
The word “literally” used to have a specific meaning, but now it annoyingly has the exact opposite meaning of its original. The word “pentultimate” was supposed to mean “second to last” but then it turned into “super-ultimate”
No one anything changes the word… Until it does. It would be nice if words can keep their meaning without getting diluted so when you really need it, you have it.
Yeap, I understand those sentiments, and am fairly picky about language myself.
Still, in cases like these, I have to bow to the fact that language is and always was fluid & ever-changing. That, and the fact that we must pick our battles in life. *shrug*