I’m just appalled at these comments!

Why does it matter what the festival represents or not?
Why does it matter if you stamd for or against it?

There was a flood, people got hurt, someone even died.
And people are laughing at it?
And ridiculing it‽

Where is the respect?

Boomers and authoritarian fascists don’t like to see people enjoying themselves, so watching people at a festival of joy, equality and happiness suffer is basically their favourite thing to do.

You pretty much got it, there are marginalized parts of society you’re allowed to berate, and people who want to feel better about themselves make fun of the groups they are allowed to when they are allowed to.

This thread is wild. I suspect most of you who seem completely positive you’re right to judge thousands of people and what they deserve would be very indignant and angry if someone lumped you in with a category of people you somehow are tangentially related to.

It’s kind of depressing. I thought Lemmy wasn’t a wasteland of humanity like reddit was, but if I was only going by this thread I’d have to conclude it definitely is not a damned bit better than reddit.

Because they’ve never been.

Holy crap, I just checked the actual numbers and their mortality rate is lower than the average in the population, they’re doing fine

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db456.htm#:~:text=Age-specific rates increased 10.1,44 (248.0 to 287.9).

Lemmy has inherited some of the best parts of reddit… and the worst.

Most people don’t even think about burning man at all.

And well, the people of the internet tend to be less fond of more wealthy people, like those that can afford to spend thousands to party in the desert. I may not want them to die just because they went to burning man, but I will laugh at the world essentially raining on their parade.

I love these posts. Yes everyone on the internet has a short, pithy take. Yes it looks cool to have no empathy.

Obviously everyone has their reasons, but why are we shocked that someone somewhere said something online that seems heartless or at odds with our version of the world?

And then when everyone explains that the event has a stereotype and there is a reason for that stereotype, and OP explains that, well, plenty of nice people participate in that activity, why would strangers on the internet shit on the nice ones too? And it’s like, yeah, this is what the internet does. Things get 2-dimensional.

🙄

I found it funny in so far as just the other day, some of those burning man goers were blocked on the road in by climate protestors. The fact it rained and they are stuck there again, due to the climate, is pretty god damn hilarious.

there is a regional burn they have every year in my state, i went for like 6 years straight in the 2010s … my fav part was walking around nekkid lol. i also participated in the fire performance ceremony before the burn. but then they modified the rules to allow children to attend and i haven’t gone since. :<

it only cost $30 and was a great fun and awesome time, as long as you took care of your MOOP!!! (and stay hydrated!)

the big burning man festival from what i understand lost the true spirit a long ass time ago.

More just schadenfreude, I expect, since Burning Man has long seemed dumb and idiotic to many. So something dumb and idiotic like this happening to them feels appropriate.

Rich fuck yuppies deserve every iota of suffering that can be visited upon them, up to and surpassing death.

I’ve been to burning man. I sit a little bit on both sides of the fence having not felt like I totally fit in there when I went, but also understanding the original mindset behind it.

At this point, I feel the backlash against Burning Man generally is a bit overblown. These folks are at a festival (yeah burners, I called it a festival because that’s the word we use for such things in the English language) and they’re having a good time. Who cares. Most folks who go have good intentions and just want to connect and share something. Many artists work for years and months, for free, to have their pieces featured. Some of that art is incredible! My favorite parts though were literally just an astronomy camp where I looked through a pretty big telescope, held some billion year old meteor fragments in my hand, and listened to hours of lectures from science nerds about the cosmos. I also watched a magic show and got fed bacon by some drunk guy at his camp at 7 am who just wanted company. I personally havent drank at burning man, but it is a party. There are all manner of things at burning man, anything you might want and some things you might not… from talks on how to build a sustainable green energy house to orgy tents to camps offering free ice cream and French toast.

On the other hand, burners can take this shit a bit too seriously and get wrapped up in the experience to the point of being annoying. One guy in my camp scolded me for asking too much about his normal life. He was a tech worker and apparently wanted to pretend that he wasn’t when he was at burning man. How ridiculous to think standing in the desert should mean you can’t talk about your actual life. Another time I pulled out my camera (aka phone) to take a photo of some art and some random chick yelled at me to put my phone away. As if we all bought DSLRs and Polaroids for this event because it’s more authentic that way, and as if the folks that did totally aren’t going to go home and put it on Instagram anyway. There were plenty of women just posing on the playa for their photographer “friends.” I doubt they all just put them in a family photo album for the memories.

That said, Burning Man is a unique event and most folks are just trying to share and view some of the most unique art in the world and connect with others. At my age, I generally find most festivals annoying and burning man has plenty of people to be annoyed at, but it is what it is and frankly I don’t know that it deserves more hate than something like Bonaroo or Coachella. At least Burning Man is full of folks trying to be more than mere passive consumers of entertainment. The mandate is for you to be a participant. God forbid you attend an event where you’re asked to do more than consume, but rather give, anything you want or feel others could benefit from.

If there were 10 other events like burning man, I’d say we should look for the best one, but it is the only event like this. That said, as time goes on, it needs to change. Burning the art has to stop, for instance. Also, some of the more snobbish cultural aspects of the event could die off and I wouldn’t cry.

Not sure I’ll ever go back, but its mostly because I’m too old for this shit and seriously get off my lawn. But, I got the idea and, I won’t hate on others who feel drawn to it, unless they’re insufferable.

A lot of the time, people hear about Burning Man in the context of which privileged asshole grifter attended it. Elizabeth Holmes, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, etc other billionaires or influencers… And it is described as “tech bros’ favorite party” in the media.

So, given that impression of it, I can see how the default reaction to it failing is unsympathetic.