Comments on: 5 Things Cities Can Learn from Burning Man http://geniusnow.com/2009/09/15/5-things-cities-can-learn-from-burning-man/ because the future won't wait Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:42:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Laura http://geniusnow.com/2009/09/15/5-things-cities-can-learn-from-burning-man/comment-page-1/#comment-3837 Laura Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:52:01 +0000 http://geniusnow.com/?p=71#comment-3837 Six-year Burner here. I love BRC and my BRC family. Nonetheless, Larry Harvey is a bit arrogant when extending himself into what Burners dub the "default world." I mean the following list in the most positive way, and hope artists will consider these obstacles when planning their installations for the "Metropolis" of next year. Point by point: 1. Try attending the burn without a car. Forget the couch, just try carrying your water. 2. People do not take care of their own trash in BRC. They pack it out to another city, which takes care of it. 3. "Icy pandemonium of extraneous wills." Sounds familiar. Burner cliques anyone? The gift economy, while a nice idea, yields an anti-meritocratic society based on popularity and social networks, the very antithesis of egalitarianism. 4. You can only foster virtue through shame if everyone agrees on what is virtuous and what is shameful. Works well in gemeinschaft but not gesellschaft societies (Google it). BRC is one-- it is 98% uppity white folks-- NYC is the other. 5. Fireworks? FIREWORKS? I guess two wars in our name, the treasury being sacked by the rich, it's all okay as long as we have something shiny to look at. We can just burn the negativity away in effigy, along with the Man, and it goes away, right? Six-year Burner here. I love BRC and my BRC family. Nonetheless, Larry Harvey is a bit arrogant when extending himself into what Burners dub the “default world.” I mean the following list in the most positive way, and hope artists will consider these obstacles when planning their installations for the “Metropolis” of next year.

Point by point:

1. Try attending the burn without a car. Forget the couch, just try carrying your water.

2. People do not take care of their own trash in BRC. They pack it out to another city, which takes care of it.

3. “Icy pandemonium of extraneous wills.” Sounds familiar. Burner cliques anyone? The gift economy, while a nice idea, yields an anti-meritocratic society based on popularity and social networks, the very antithesis of egalitarianism.

4. You can only foster virtue through shame if everyone agrees on what is virtuous and what is shameful. Works well in gemeinschaft but not gesellschaft societies (Google it). BRC is one– it is 98% uppity white folks– NYC is the other.

5. Fireworks? FIREWORKS? I guess two wars in our name, the treasury being sacked by the rich, it’s all okay as long as we have something shiny to look at. We can just burn the negativity away in effigy, along with the Man, and it goes away, right?

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