Department of Self Reliance Department

[some seeing eye]

First let me say that I have sinned the sin of original sin, specifically I have not explored every nook and cranny or twisty path on the supremely organized main web site.

Since every burner, camp and village is encouraged to be self reliant, it is interesting to see in one place the list of outside vendors. These are companies that pay (3%?) to the BLM of sales and a culture pass + ? to the organizers for the exclusive right to pass in and out of the gate delivering the stuff you are not self-reliant on to make you self reliant.

https://burningman.org/event/camps/deli ... providers/

Presumably some of them are delivering fresh food too. The porto pumper isn't listed but they deal with your shit for a fee. The camp builders who enter on tickets, then leave without participating, enter, well, on tickets. The SoCal Segway rental place which shall not be named has dropped off the list for on-playa delivery from previous years.

(Personally I think there is a place for renting cranes & forklifts to be shared, and maybe large generators, from vendors who are down with dust. Fuel, to reduce the danger of fire on the road and large camp fuel stores. The rest?)

(mods feel free to move wherever)

[Captain Goddammit]

The website does little to even promote self-reliance anymore.
The new design is extremely poor from a user's point of view. By "extremely poor" I mean ultra shitty. Oh sure it's artsy but they've made it rather difficult to find the info you need.
The new generation of burners first question is "How do I join a camp?" primarily to get accommodations, not to "help".
There's no going back, it's too mainstream now.
I made an analogy to Stock Car racing years ago... something that even I, a huge gearhead, find extremely boring.
When it started, they were STOCK cars, the actual ones people drove to work.
Modifications slowly increased, but up until about the early '70s, any somewhat talented little-guy could still compete. The cars were dragged in on flatbed trailers behind station wagons, literally less elaborate operations than my own Burning Man Mutant Vehicle. The cars still said "Ford" or "Plymouth" or "Pontiac" on them.
And it was exciting.
Well they kept evolving. Now they say "Huggies" or "Vagisil" on them, there's not a SINGLE part on them that has anything to do with a STOCK car, and they are all the same chassis with a body shell that has stickers to tell you what car it supposedly represents. Fielding a car is now a multimillion dollar operation requiring huge corporate sponsorship.
And it's boring as fuck.

Burning Man is on the same path.

[TT120]

I think their definition of "self reliant" is different than ours. Their idea of being self reliant is making sure you have paid all the people necessary to make you comfortable. Maybe we should call it "self funded reliance".

Ours is making yourself comfortable with no help from anyone else. Bring a little extra to share with your friends and everyone is happy.

[some seeing eye]

... There's no going back, it's too mainstream now.

... years ago... it was exciting.

Fielding a car dance camp/mobile dance camp is now a multimillion dollar operation requiring huge [under the covers] corporate sponsorship.

And it's boring as fuck.

Burning Man is on the same path.

A little nip and tuck for ya!

[AntiM]

I move "looking for a camp" posts out of Greeter's Station to the camps forum frequently. Does no one car camp anymore? If you can car camp, you can figure out how to camp at Burning Man. I get that it is difficult when coming from overseas, but it is supposed to be difficult. That is part and parcel of the experience, you work for it. When someone from California is camp begging, I really question their understanding of the event. Buy a bus ticket, lug in a tent and some food, melt some ice. Be a dust warrior.

I usually make a camp offer for an overseas newbie or two, but have not yet this year. While that has usually been a god experience, there's a whiff of desperation on the boards this year. It is off-putting.

[Captain Goddammit]

Some Seeing Eye, you have accurately seen what I was getting at!!

[FlyingMonkey]

Sooooo, your not going to rent a luxury yurt for $2950/week?

How do I get in on that sanctioned commodification of Burning man? That's just rental. I could build 10 yurts, rent them for the Burn & make more money in 1 week than many people do in a year.

Obviously the "Org" is cool with someone capitalizing on burning man & using part of the event name in the name of their company. But if someone tries to sell their hand crafted clothing or jewelry online as burner clothes they will be confronted with a cease & desist order. How does that work? Do we have to give the Man a cut of the action?

With mixed messages (right on the official web site) like this no wonder so many people totally disregard the principals. I'll still make a point to abide by & instill the principals in my camp mates but the hypocrisy is a real downer man.

Burning Man is dead. Long live the Man.