Top Asshats of 2023

[FlyingMonkey]

This may turn out to be a long thread.

For me it's going to go to all the impatient people who left under the no movement order.

Some only made it 20 feet but then blocked roads and Porto service. Others made it farther but rutted the roads so bad small cars had trouble leaving. Not to mention all the press they created when they got stuck. I find them to be the most selfish asshats of 2023.

[some seeing eye]

The climate protestors blocking the road on Pyramid Lake Paiute lands.

Fortunately they videoed themselves, you can easily find it.

We understand the climate issue and are working on it, individually and as a group. We appreciate the Pyramid Lake Paiute and work to maintain a good relationship.

[Lonesomebri]

Well, that Dipshitlo comes to mind, as a representative of DJs as a whole. An archetype. Doesn't do any build or tear down, no moop sweep, no making grilled cheese. Attracts tourists. Scurrying off to some high paid gig. But, as with the flood, blessing or curse? Maybe it'll discourage other paid performers from suffering so.

And over on blueit there's a fun thread mentioning a familiar name. Someone posted a scathing takedown of Camp THREAT. A list of complaints and offenses. On and on. Just horrible. Really made me think. Then seeing this Top Asshat post here, uncanny. Such a serendipitous connection; the very very very negative blueit thread about Camp THREAT, and this eplaya post listing Top Asshats. But yeah, it's gotta be said, add to the list of Top Asshats of 2023 whoever it was who posted that anti-Camp THREAT thread.

[some seeing eye]

The climate protestors blocking the road on Pyramid Lake Paiute lands.

The climate protestors included a former burner couple and members of https://www.sevencirclesalliance.org/.

"According to the tribe’s chairman, rangers cited five of the demonstrators, who had traveled to Nevada from New York, Washington, California and the European country of Malta."

"[Emily] Collins and her partner, Tom Diacono, traveled from Italy to participate in the protest, opting to skip Burning Man this year after attending the festival for many years." Collins was the one who chained herself to the trailer.

-AP

Love it, fly to a climate protest.

If you want to do something about climate, which we each need to, be effective! If you are a guilt-ridden former burner, get to work in climate in your own town, and in your own life.

They need some graphic design help...

Screenshot 2023-09-09 at 6.51.08 AM.png

[ygmir]

The climate protestors blocking the road on Pyramid Lake Paiute lands.

The climate protestors included a former burner couple and members of https://www.sevencirclesalliance.org/.

"According to the tribe’s chairman, rangers cited five of the demonstrators, who had traveled to Nevada from New York, Washington, California and the European country of Malta."

"[Emily] Collins and her partner, Tom Diacono, traveled from Italy to participate in the protest, opting to skip Burning Man this year after attending the festival for many years." Collins was the one who chained herself to the trailer.

-AP

Love it, fly to a climate protest.

If you want to do something about climate, which we each need to, be effective! If you are a guilt-ridden former burner, get to work in climate in your own town, and in your own life.

They need some graphic design help...

Screenshot 2023-09-09 at 6.51.08 AM.png

interesting that we don't see climate protestors in China, India, etc., where arguably the worst violators are. They only do what's easy and gets them camera time.
lazy narcissists.

[The Rod]

Well according their side of the story, THREAT are the Top Asshats of 2023.

[FlyingMonkey]

Such a serendipitous connection; the very very very negative blueit thread about Camp THREAT, and this eplaya post listing Top Asshats. But yeah, it's gotta be said, add to the list of Top Asshats of 2023 whoever it was who posted that anti-Camp THREAT thread.

Well you made me actually go there and read the thread. Not much will make me go to Blueit.

While I never made it there this year, I did have 2 camps playing extremely loud and shitty music until about 7:00 AM each morning. One of my camp mates had a decibel meter and it read 86 decibles in the center of our village at 2:00AM. I totally get that it's Burning Man and its going to be loud. My problem was the fact that we were on Esplanade and it interfered in other camps providing interactivity. That was pretty shifty of them. Keep in mind that I'm not talking about Camp Threat (just 2 other camps that didn't give 2 shits about their neighbors).

I think all the jackassery is a part of the Burn. But it can be over done and then not appreciated for what it is.

I'll have to swing buy Camp Threat next year. They sound fun. We'll, unless you Camp next to them

[Lonesomebri]

interesting that we don't see climate protestors in China, India, etc., where arguably the worst violators are. They only do what's easy and gets them camera time.
lazy narcissists.
[/quote]

I'm sure that China and India have people who are concerned and protesting what their countries are doing to the environment. But those countries also have people kind of like you. So we don't really hear, or ever see again, those protestors at all. Thinking they don't exist is so much internalized propaganda. It's so funny we don't hear of them, yet suddenly blaming the media for that portrayed silence shifts to blaming, I'm not really even sure. Cheering on China taking care of their protesters so we can pretend they don't exist? Of course the protesters are narcissistic, have you seen what they're up against? Very humble capitalism

[Papa Bear]

I did have 2 camps playing extremely loud and shitty music until about 7:00 AM each morning. One of my camp mates had a decibel meter and it read 86 decibles in the center of our village at 2:00AM. I totally get that it's Burning Man and its going to be loud. My problem was the fact that we were on Esplanade and it interfered in other camps providing interactivity.

Did you talk to them? If so, what was their response?

Assuming that didn't resolve it, did you involved Rangers or report the issue to Placement? The theme camp criteria include "being a good neighbor", and adhering to the sound policy for the area they are placed in is explicitly called out as being part of that.

This kind of thing is a big part of the reason for the revised sound policy. It's a "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins" kind of thing. A camp gets to play its music, but not so loud that it interferes with other camp's operations and interactivity.

[The Rod]

I think it’s cute that they call it a policy. Suggestive language, undefinable slippery slope definitions of fun buzzwords like “good neighbor” and “conversational”, all with hippie community police cosplay for enforcement. Other than the “no more art cars in town rule”, it ends up reading a lot more like guiding principles than policy.

At first I was like what the fuck, how is this supposed to clarify or illuminate some righteous path forward through the current burning man existential crisis of Loud Music Playing at a Party When Someone in the Vicinity of the Party is Trying to Sleep.

But then I participated in numerous conversations with neighbors and rangers while running a camp with loud music parties. Conversations that often featured a decibel reader, all of them occurring at “conversational” level in various places inside and outside of the camp. After all these conversations I came to the conclusion that it’s most likely a terrible policy on purpose.

The complainers get to complain and then feel empowered that the rangers are going to tell the offending camp that someone complained. The rangers make a note in their little book. The music might get turned down. Word gets out that the rangers are going to tell placement not to place the offending camp in the following year. People rejoice, thanks to the complainers, the community has been saved from people playing loud music while someone else is trying to sleep. Who knew the Black Rock City Ranger Force had such authority?

[Papa Bear]

Rangers don't tell placement whether or not to place a camp. They just pass on information about camps that had a lot of complaints, multiple calls involving law enforcement, obvious LNT issues, or whatever.

The placement criteria regarding being a "good neighbor" is a catch-all term that includes adhering to the sound policy for your area, as well as a host of other things that basically add up to "don't cause problems for your neighbors". And "conversational" is not vague - it's explicitly defined as 60db at the border of a camp, or in the middle of the street in front of it, with somewhat broader limits for camps on Esplanade.

Nor is the issue just "someone in the vicinity of the party trying to sleep". Under the old policy, which allowed 90db at 40 feet, a camp with loud sound could completely overwhelm neighboring camps with a level of sound that can cause hearing loss. I don't care how important a camp thinks their sound is; their neighbor's camps have every bit as much of a right to be able to operate their camp and interactivity as the sound camp does, not to mention keep their hearing intact. It's the "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins" principle.

And that's the thing - the goal of the policy *isn't* a specific decibel level. In that sense, it *is* a guiding principle. The goal is for camps to talk to and work with each other to find sound levels they can all live with. If a camp works with their neighbors to find a time period where operating at a higher volume is just peachy for all concerned, they are able to do so. If they have trouble reaching such an agreement, that's what Rangers are for - helping to mediate the discussion to try to find that workable middle ground. If a camp's schtick is to publicly act like anti-social assholes to the general public, that's fine, but they need to be prepared to temporarily set that aside while working with their neighbors. 95% already do, these changes are aimed at the remaining 5%.

If a camp refuses to work with neighbors and just blasts them out, or only pretends to work with them while Rangers are there and then reneges on agreements to once said Rangers leave, then they suck at being a good neighbor. Once those complaints work their way to Placement (which is pretty easy now that anyone can walk up to Placement HQ to tell them what's going on so that a Placer can investigate directly while it is still ongoing), they may find they are no longer in good standing.

But if that happens to a camp, it's not on Rangers or their neighbors - it's entirely a consequence of their own actions. And if so, I have trouble finding any sympathy for them.

[some seeing eye]

A new burner as of the renegade requesting more regulation of BRC. Extremely stubborn and not in the group they want regulated. They just want it regulated for their perfect. There have been no problems which would be solved by regulation. Despite cogent arguments against the idea, they bypassed the organizers and went straight to the BLM to request it. Regulation is not free, it is paid for by tickets.

[Sham]

A new burner as of the renegade requesting more regulation of BRC. Extremely stubborn and not in the group they want regulated. They just want it regulated for their perfect. There have been no problems which would be solved by regulation. Despite cogent arguments against the idea, they bypassed the organizers and went straight to the BLM to request it. Regulation is not free, it is paid for by tickets.

Can you give some more specifics on this?

[Skuzzy61]

Rangers don't tell placement whether or not to place a camp. They just pass on information about camps that had a lot of complaints, multiple calls involving law enforcement, obvious LNT issues, or whatever.

The placement criteria regarding being a "good neighbor" is a catch-all term that includes adhering to the sound policy for your area, as well as a host of other things that basically add up to "don't cause problems for your neighbors". And "conversational" is not vague - it's explicitly defined as 60db at the border of a camp, or in the middle of the street in front of it, with somewhat broader limits for camps on Esplanade.

Nor is the issue just "someone in the vicinity of the party trying to sleep". Under the old policy, which allowed 90db at 40 feet, a camp with loud sound could completely overwhelm neighboring camps with a level of sound that can cause hearing loss. I don't care how important a camp thinks their sound is; their neighbor's camps have every bit as much of a right to be able to operate their camp and interactivity as the sound camp does, not to mention keep their hearing intact. It's the "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins" principle.

And that's the thing - the goal of the policy *isn't* a specific decibel level. In that sense, it *is* a guiding principle. The goal is for camps to talk to and work with each other to find sound levels they can all live with. If a camp works with their neighbors to find a time period where operating at a higher volume is just peachy for all concerned, they are able to do so. If they have trouble reaching such an agreement, that's what Rangers are for - helping to mediate the discussion to try to find that workable middle ground. If a camp's schtick is to publicly act like anti-social assholes to the general public, that's fine, but they need to be prepared to temporarily set that aside while working with their neighbors. 95% already do, these changes are aimed at the remaining 5%.

If a camp refuses to work with neighbors and just blasts them out, or only pretends to work with them while Rangers are there and then reneges on agreements to once said Rangers leave, then they suck at being a good neighbor. Once those complaints work their way to Placement (which is pretty easy now that anyone can walk up to Placement HQ to tell them what's going on so that a Placer can investigate directly while it is still ongoing), they may find they are no longer in good standing.

But if that happens to a camp, it's not on Rangers or their neighbors - it's entirely a consequence of their own actions. And if so, I have trouble finding any sympathy for them.

Well said Papa Bear. (by the way,..we love your camp, you guys are awesome).

[Papa Bear]

(by the way,..we love your camp, you guys are awesome).

Much appreciated, but I should clarify that I'm just a senior member of the camp, not the organizer. It's still run by one of the people who founded it 25 years ago.

[The Rod]

Sarcasm and hyperbole are two very different conversational tactics. Decibels don’t matter until it’s 90 decibels can cause hearing loss.

And I fail to understand how a ranger walking into a camp and saying “there has been a complaint so you need to turn it down” is mediating a conversation. That sounds a lot more like enforcement to me. And the ranger callers get to remain anonymous.

[heyhairy]

FanShield, Protecht, Insurance, Gate Closure etc.
Have any late comers to this 2023 Burning Man event, who couldn't get in due to gate closure, received an insurance payment from FanShield, or is that not a covered reason?

[Papa Bear]

Decibels don’t matter until it’s 90 decibels can cause hearing loss.

The sound policy disagrees with you.

And I fail to understand how a ranger walking into a camp and saying “there has been a complaint so you need to turn it down” is mediating a conversation.

I agree. But every Ranger I know - which includes quite a few members of Ranger leadership - would tell you that’s not what a Ranger is supposed to do. With few exceptions, Rangers are mediators, not enforcers, and should be facilitating a conversation between complainer and the loud camp, not imposing solutions. They can remind you of the policy and point it out if you’re not in compliance, but they’re not going to order you to turn it down.

That’s not to say the Rangers in the field don’t have a way to escalate issues up the chain of command when a person or camp becomes a serious problem (for any reason, not just sound). They absolutely do - but it really takes a lot to get to the point where someone more senior is giving you the choice between turning it down voluntarily or being shut down involuntarily. IMO, anyone who lets it get anywhere near that far is either terminally stupid, an uncompromising sociopath, or both.

[FlyingMonkey]

I did have 2 camps playing extremely loud and shitty music until about 7:00 AM each morning. One of my camp mates had a decibel meter and it read 86 decibles in the center of our village at 2:00AM. I totally get that it's Burning Man and its going to be loud. My problem was the fact that we were on Esplanade and it interfered in other camps providing interactivity.

Did you talk to them? If so, what was their response?

Assuming that didn't resolve it, did you involved Rangers or report the issue to Placement? The theme camp criteria include "being a good neighbor", and adhering to the sound policy for the area they are placed in is explicitly called out as being part of that.

This kind of thing is a big part of the reason for the revised sound policy. It's a "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins" kind of thing. A camp gets to play its music, but not so loud that it interferes with other camp's operations and interactivity.

Yeah, several people from our village went to talk to them. Each time they said they would turn it down, and each time they didn't do it. Finally, after several attempts in person some folks in my village contacted the Rangers and filled out a report. Even after the Rangers spoke to them they continued to blast their neighbors at high DB levels.

[Papa Bear]

Even after the Rangers spoke to them they continued to blast their neighbors at high DB levels.

By this point, I would recommend heading down Esplanade to the Placement office (right next to Ranger HQ) and letting the Placer on duty know what's going on.

I'd also make sure you mention them (including the multiple attempts to talk to them and getting Rangers involved) when you fill out the 2023 BRC Neighborhood Interactivity Feedback Form.

[motskyroonmatick]

A new burner as of the renegade requesting more regulation of BRC. Extremely stubborn and not in the group they want regulated. They just want it regulated for their perfect. There have been no problems which would be solved by regulation. Despite cogent arguments against the idea, they bypassed the organizers and went straight to the BLM to request it. Regulation is not free, it is paid for by tickets.

I'd second this nomination but I don't want it to start all over again... again and maybe again.

[The Rod]

A new burner as of the renegade requesting more regulation of BRC. Extremely stubborn and not in the group they want regulated. They just want it regulated for their perfect. There have been no problems which would be solved by regulation. Despite cogent arguments against the idea, they bypassed the organizers and went straight to the BLM to request it. Regulation is not free, it is paid for by tickets.

Can you give some more specifics on this?

yeah whats going on

[some seeing eye]

A new burner as of the renegade requesting more regulation of BRC. Extremely stubborn and not in the group they want regulated. They just want it regulated for their perfect. There have been no problems which would be solved by regulation. Despite cogent arguments against the idea, they bypassed the organizers and went straight to the BLM to request it. Regulation is not free, it is paid for by tickets.

Can you give some more specifics on this?

yeah whats going on

Because it is being dealt with by the BMORG and can only be dealt with by the BMORG there is no need to go into details. It has nothing to do with sound.

[lucky420]

My face!
That was my top asshat for 2023

[The Rod]

Then why even mention it

[ygmir]

Then why even mention it

+1

[FlyingMonkey]

Good Sir, I will see you and raise you.

+2