Burning Man as Spiritual Outlet?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:22 am

We're all hoping it turns around.
If you want to really be scared, look at the power they have tried to seize.
And the illegal activity spying on people.
It's back to the sixties fascism in many ways.

dana · Post by **dana** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:08 am

What's really perverse about all of that is the many times that Bush (or some other talking head) announces to the news what great freedom we have in Amerika and how much we support other countries who also support freedom. (You don't see too many northern European countries buying that crap anymore.)

I spend a lot of time working in Small Town(s) Amerika, with lots of conservative type folks, who just eat that shit right up. As long as you tap into their paranoia about terrorists, many would gladly give up their rights. There really does seem to be a similarity to the mind set of early Nazi Germany. Selling fear, buying more control.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:26 pm

Don't you think the library spying is radicalizing the rural population?
That sort of thing finally did in the past.

dana · Post by **dana** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:05 pm

Knowledge of things like library surveillance is probably only going to filter down to a more select group of rural folks.

Certainly there is the other end of the spectrum - the more radical types living out in the sticks that are completely fearful of the government and trying to find ways to circumvent or somehow protect against the government's actions. Ruby Ridge and that sort of thing. They seem to be a minority.

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 10:23 pm

But remember folks, you are free to worship anything at burningman and remember to buy a memento of your deity at Center Camp!

Hey they don't record what you buy or worship!!!

Me2 · Post by **Me2** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:03 am

Library spying??

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:20 am

Monitoring what is read, even in book stores.
Spying on emails.
Listening in on phone calls.
The usual mischief governments get up to.

I recommend reading The Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets by James Bamford.

Kafka lives!

Did you ever find The Man Burns Tonight?
It might tell you something about the experience on the playa.

Me2 · Post by **Me2** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:51 pm

Did you ever find The Man Burns Tonight?
It might tell you something about the experience on the playa.

Hey thanks! I'd forgotten about that.

Can't you guys do anything to fight against all this surveilance crap. It seems very controlling and invasive. Does it work to create 'docile bodies'?(Foucault).

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:06 pm

At first, perhaps.
With the history of the military spying on the civilian population in the sixties, I think it just pisses people off when they become aware of the depth of it.
The law has already been broken and the real outrages are the extent of power they are reaching for.

The fact that librarians across the country started wiping records on their own speaks volumes.
You can't spy on what isn't there.
Many anonymous web browsers use this technique.
I highly recommend the books by Bamford for anyone who lives under a government.

There are many freedoms that are not protected by our government here, such as the right of privacy.
The fifth freedom idea is in recognition of this.
http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/jacob_wism ... reedom.htm

Me2 · Post by **Me2** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:24 am

Would you say that the "Four Freedoms", having been written during a time of war, not only don't go far enough to adequately ensure real protection of civil liberties, but are outdated for today's economically and politically confusing world??

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:44 am

I think so.
Many people think these are rights that are already protected.
Some people have never thought about it.