2011 burning man rights of passage
For one thing, this is where people go in America to be exposed to real electronic dance music and not the faked ten years ago stuff that most rave-themed events have settled for out of sheer exhaustion elsewhere in the States. It is also a utopian demonstration where no money is exchanged and big name DJs like Carl Cox and Francois Kevorkian come to play on their own dime, and in Francois’ case staying for the entire week of the festival. The length, organization, and locale also lend mightily to the community and transformational experiences, that feeling attendees crave.
But the capping of attendance for this year’s Burning Man, Rites of Passage, puts the heavily attended lifestyle festival at a crossroads and also made it prey to the same scallywag carpetbaggers, in this case ticket resellers, that come looting after good ol’ Uncle Sam gives any out-of-favor nation within his borders, in the case Burning Man, an old fashion pen stroke upending. And that’s where this story of this year’s ticket intrigue begins, in the US capital of Washington, DC at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). But because of this huge announcement, the big questions looming now for Burning Man revolve around how large a change this bring to the event starting this year and moving forward, how will attendees react to the changes, and how substantial will government action in regards to the Burning Man land usage permits be in the future.
For now the attendance limit is capped at approximately 60,000, the largest population zone for a nearly a hundred miles in any direction and the size of a small city in terms of logistics in what is essentially a limited use ecological preserve and that’s where the trouble begins.
Located in a remote northern section of the state of Nevada, the Black Rock Desert, the home of Burning Man is like many parts of this region of the US collectively called The Great Basin, and not-too-bold adventurers can easily find the salt flat remains of ancient bodies of water like the site Burning Man is held in neighboring California, where Burning Man began. But Nevada has laxer policies on land usage, especially in the remote northern areas along the California border, often deferring to the federal government’s land management agency the BLM for management. Anyone who has spent any time on BLM land knows, this kind of “management” is as about as close to a Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ), as can be found in the US.
Burning Man organizers have exploited that loophole for years and allowed what started as relatively small, word-of-mouth event balloon in to the worldwide phenomenon it has become. But that doesn’t come without cost, five years ago major environmental groups began to worry about the ecological area surrounding the playa on which Burning Man is held and the permanent damage by the effects of increased population. While the site itself is nearly lifeless and contains no endangered species, the lands surrounding the area are some of the most fragile desert environments in the world and are specially protected. This led to inquiries by various groups and land protection agencies as well as the inclusion of a provision that gave the BLM power to cap the attendance of the festival at any time going forward, prior to this year they hadn’t ever invoked that right, what has changed?
One of the main concerns is enforcement by federal officers from the Department of Fish & Game of the intent of the permit to satisfy the inquiries from the various environmental groups, and when investigate the paper trail all leads back to the swiss cheese of a budget that passes for land management and protection in the US currently, leaving these things as prey for the private sector and at the hands of powerful lobby groups such as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace who don’t share the same aims or ideals as the Burning Man set means equals too much manpower on the books, drawing from too many departments, and as such is now a casualty of America’s ongoing infrastructure downsizing program. It is also a stark reminder of the growing, noticeable inequality in America because there is going to be little chance that Burning Man will be able to include a tenant in its mission statement called “Radical Inclusion” while holding a straight face. Radically inclusive for those who have the same guy on the street they speed dial for Super Bowl, Celine Dion, and UFC tickets, and do you think Tony Soprano’s kid even for a second gives a shit about holistic community vibes of Burning Man? There is a sense in the forum chatter and that overheard on the street amongst the true believers that bad juju is afoot for this particular community. Burning Man will from now only be inclusive for those who can pay and now that the speculators are involved only a very few will be included.
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