Radical Inclusion: Should we include harmful people?

[DoriumLux]

By the way, this has nothing to do with Paul Addis.

I am talking about someone who has given me physical violence off the playa.

Sure, BM is not about "me". But am I required to include this person, even if I am scared of them and don't like them?

Do "we" the group, include and welcome people who... have been hurtful?

Baa.Baa.

Yes, you must hug this person and give them a fucking welcome basket when you see them.

No, really. I'm kidding.

I'm so terribly confused about this question and concerned why you even have to ask it. Who is "we" anyway? Don't be a sheep and don't taken everything you read literally.

[SilverOrange]

Everyone is included. Sure there have been people there in the past that I wished weren't, but what can you do? It's up to you to be able to protect yourself on the playa, but especially in defaultia. Who's going to protect you? The police openly admit they are a reactionary force. It's a rarity for them to be around when you need them, and that doesn't even mean that they will help you. I was shot in a hold up which was witnessed by an off duty cop who was armed. He didn't feel the need to interveen, even though, supposedly, they are never "off duty". His response when asked why he didn't get involved, "It looked like they knew each other". WTF? I really never have hung out with crackhead gang bangers, but whatever. Get some training. See if there's a Krav Maga instructor anywhere around you. Krav is a really cool fighting system that anyone can do. Young, old, big, small, man, woman, and everything in between. You'll feel better just knowing that you can take care of yourself and things like this will become a non-issue.

Or there's always some pepper spray performance art.

It's always better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.

[fciron]

Gonna try and address the original poster's question and follow up info. Since we are in the 'Politics & Philosophy' forum that is how I will approach the questions, practical matters of protection have already been addressed. This represents my personal interpretation of Burning Man, I have absolutely no official capacity.

Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

Radical inclusion is defined in terms of accepting new and different people not in terms of ignoring the past. To exclude your scary person from your experience does not violate this principle in my opinion.

Obviously the term 'inclusion' is usually used in a much broader sense. In the broader sense of 'radically inclusive' I would say that all people are welcome to the event regardless of race, class, politics, sexuality, or criminal history. It means that there can be theme camps devoted to violence, peace, sex, drugs, Jesus, Buddha, or any other of a variety of potentially offensive topics. This does not mean that you as an individual need to hang out, camp, or spend any time at all with an another individual who you don't like for any reason.

I would suggest that avoiding someone with a history of violence towards you would be an act of radical self-reliance, another of the ten principles. Notifying your camp-mates and friends, the rangers, local law enforcement, and other playa organizations would be acts of communal effort and civic responsibility, two more of the ten principles.

Burning Man is not other than the real world, it is a part of the real world. A very special part for many of us, but not so special that you should feel compelled to put yourself at risk.

Ten Principles

Survival Guide: Safety There is a paragraph about personal safety half way down the page, it does not contain much practical info, but it illustrates that taking care of yourself is part of the deal.

[Isotopia]

Radical inclusion is defined in terms of accepting new and different people not in terms of ignoring the past. To exclude your scary person from your experience does not violate this principle in my opinion.

Absolutely agree. To exclude scary person from the opportunity to experience the event based exclusively on the OP's needs or wants is bullshit though.

Obviously the term 'inclusion' is usually used in a much broader sense. In the broader sense of 'radically inclusive' I would say that all people are welcome to the event regardless of race, class, politics, sexuality, or criminal history.

That's a pretty good summary of things. Fact is there have been instances in which individuals have approached Rangers and suggested that background checks be performed on volunteers. Others in recent history have suggested raking through the various county/state/fed sex offender web sites and look for suspicious 'burner-like' individuals to keep an eye out on. By that the suggestion included having an album at the ticket office. You can see where that shit is going. There'll always be someone who feels that a false sense of security overrides any consideration of rights, reason or justice.

It means that there can be theme camps devoted to violence, peace, sex, drugs, Jesus, Buddha, or any other of a variety of potentially offensive topics. This does not mean that you as an individual need to hang out, camp, or spend any time at all with an another individual who you don't like for any reason.

Nor does it mean that said camps should not be allowed at the event based on one's fragile nature or precious fucking sensibilities. Again, the ugly underbelly of the event is that there are these demands - from participants - continually being dropped at the feet of the event organizers and staff.

I would suggest that avoiding someone with a history of violence towards you would be an act of radical self-reliance, another of the ten principles. Notifying your camp-mates and friends, the rangers, local law enforcement, and other playa organizations would be acts of communal effort and civic responsibility, two more of the ten principles.

Very good advice. Very well put.