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Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

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Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#21
post #2

Ugh. Here we go again. I'm really beginning to become tired of the constant tension associated with being in the tech industry (and, by proxy, its rung on the economic ladder): -we're driving up rent and destroying culture in San Francisco -we're ruining Burning Man -we blow big money at yuppie places on yuppie things Can't we all just keep a low profile? If Dustin really wanted to talk about his encounter with the W…

I believe I understand your point, but I most whole-heartedly disagree. Rarely is it advisable to avoid acknowledging/discussing a problem merely because doing so is uncomfortable.

MLK Jr. wrote an amazing letter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail) that expressed a similar sentiment. In it, he asserted that overtly-racist whites were better for the civil rights movement than those who were against racism and yet remained silent because conflict made them too uncomfortable.

(Not that class divisions at Burning Man are as important as civil rights, by any means. But you get my point.)

Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#22
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought this was an exceptionally well-written, nuanced article and your comment, to me, just reads like typical Hacker News complaining.

It's worse than that; it's a weird attempt to exonerate the tech industry that I don't understand. It reads very much to me like: "Leave me alone, I have mine."

Why can't both positions be valid? Onlookers overblow it for sure, and a vast majority of valley programmers are just out of school for the first time and can come off entitled or still hold earte Blanche attitudes at otherS perspectives, even if they have been to burning man 5 times.

Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#23
post #21
post #2

Ugh. Here we go again. I'm really beginning to become tired of the constant tension associated with being in the tech industry (and, by proxy, its rung on the economic ladder): -we're driving up rent and destroying culture in San Francisco -we're ruining Burning Man -we blow big money at yuppie places on yuppie things Can't we all just keep a low profile? If Dustin really wanted to talk about his encounter with the W…

I believe I understand your point, but I most whole-heartedly disagree. Rarely is it advisable to avoid acknowledging/discussing a problem merely because doing so is uncomfortable. MLK Jr. wrote an amazing letter ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail ) that expressed a similar sentiment. In it, he asserted that overtly-racist whites were better for the civil rights movement than those who were ag…

I don't get your point. How can I while still on the floor laughing at how anyone could compare a hippie revival with the civil rights movement?

If you started chanting hari krishna right now this wouldn't be any more strange.

Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#24
post #23
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe I understand your point, but I most whole-heartedly disagree. Rarely is it advisable to avoid acknowledging/discussing a problem merely because doing so is uncomfortable. MLK Jr. wrote an amazing letter ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail ) that expressed a similar sentiment. In it, he asserted that overtly-racist whites were better for the civil rights movement than those who were ag…

I don't get your point. How can I while still on the floor laughing at how anyone could compare a hippie revival with the civil rights movement? If you started chanting hari krishna right now this wouldn't be any more strange.

For your edification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy

Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#25
post #24
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get your point. How can I while still on the floor laughing at how anyone could compare a hippie revival with the civil rights movement? If you started chanting hari krishna right now this wouldn't be any more strange.

For your edification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy

An analogy presumes a relationship between two concepts.

You might look up "straw man argument".

Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#26
post #25
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For your edification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy

An analogy presumes a relationship between two concepts. You might look up "straw man argument".

Are you claiming that my analogy didn't point out a relationship between the two subjects in dispute? Because it very clearly did.

Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#27
I've never been to burning man. It does seem weird that in order to be "radically included" you have to travel to a specific place on earth at a specific time and do a bunch of stuff. I feel jealous when people talk about how its a spiritual experience. I find it hard to believe that it can be so transformative yet so short, relatively speaking- but I don't dismiss it instantly. Is it kind of like some of the more interesting/fun oriented frisbee tournaments? The only people I know that have gone are not inclusive people, they are competitive about being hip. The whole thing is a bizarre mystery to me. It does seem interesting though.

Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#28
post #8

"my own clothes were still all wrong" I can't even imagine what this might mean in this context. It was pretty clear to me even on the first day that there's no right or wrong way to dress, it's just part of that (radical) self-expression thing.

I had the same feeling the first time I went. Seeing the amazing costumes people had spent hours putting together made me want to develop my own style and kicked my creativity into high gear. Sure, strangeness is encouraged, but since most people take that in a personal direction I don't think of it as another type of conformity.

Re: Radical Inclusion vs. Radical Self-Reliance at Burning Man

#29
post #8

"my own clothes were still all wrong" I can't even imagine what this might mean in this context. It was pretty clear to me even on the first day that there's no right or wrong way to dress, it's just part of that (radical) self-expression thing.

King Missile wrote what I consider to be the theme song for Burning Man[1], and is relevant here. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=351wGhomUNI

I was disappointed to find that this was not a link to Detachable Penis.
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