
Markets at Burning Man - mhil
http://transcapitalist.squarespace.com/transcapitalist/2010/9/13/markets-at-burning-man.html
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gojomo
As a 5-time burner, I've always enjoyed the contrast between the orgy of
purchasing that precedes arrival to the playa, and the commerce-celibate
environment on the playa.

The fun starts at the costume shops of Haight street -- with BRC-themed
displays for weeks before, and ever-more -frantic shoppers leading up to event
kickoff (and even midweek for later arrivers). The CruiseAmerica RV rental
place near Oakland Airport seems to be nonstop burners the kickoff weekend.
(They probably bring in extra vehicles from around the country to meet the
demand.)

As you snake up I-80, _every_ highwayside REI, Target, and Wal-Mart between SF
and Reno has evidence of burner purchasing. Wal-Marts have special front-of-
store presentations of exactly the camper/raver/cycling/desert supplies
burners need. And plenty of Home Depots, from SF to Reno, are filled with
people buying building and art supplies.

And then: you reach the 'oasis' of no commerce at Black Rock. The contrast is
beautiful; the experiment in intentional and temporary community is
perception-altering, with lessons for the rest of the world.

But if you fail to notice that it's the wealth and specialization of a giant,
competitive, cash-seeking economy that made it all possible, you're blind to
the whole picture. Barter economies never invent EL wire and computer-
controlled LED displays, among other things.

~~~
mhil
great points. i was also startled by the sheer consumption/destruction that is
Burning Man, especially in terms of fuel.

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nat
The line break between "Blow" and "Pop" made me think that this article was
going in a totally different direction.

~~~
zavulon
Whoever is downvoting you clearly didn't read the article. That was hilarious!

> My new friend then “gifted” this young girl a $300 ticket. She jumped with
> joy, we arrived at the Wal-Mart, and she thanked us both for the ride,
> jumped out, and gave us each a Blow

Pop

~~~
TheAmazingIdiot
I read it on both my blackberry and ubuntu/firefox with adblockplus. I saw no
break other than a simple space between them.

~~~
jackowayed
Not sure why people are downvoting him either. On my OS X Chrome, "Blow" is
the beginning of a line, not the end of one. Rendering differences browsers
make strategic linebreaks hard.

It's a shame, because that would have made the article much more fun.

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waivej
This post bothered me probably because going to Burning Man reinforced the
side of me that wouldn't demand a free meal because of poor service.

Burning Man (at least for me) was a place where you would go with a big crazy
project that you could never hope to accomplish. But somehow "the playa would
provide" and people would come help you complete it. And "gifting" isn't about
cheap trinkets or bartering. It's about giving your time and skills to people
that could use it. I've helped repair an engine, build structures, painted a
boat, clean up trash, and more. People have fed me, taken care of me while
dehydrated, given me rides, bought my ticket, etc.

In some ways, it's helped me be more adventurous with creating a business.
Sometimes you need to take that leap of faith that resources will show up.

I came back the first time and literally cried at seeing all of the trash
barrels overflowing in my home town on garbage day. (EDIT: I live 2500 miles
away.) I also spent months researching all sorts of things I was excited by as
a boy. Lots of people go to Burning Man to "rage" and take lots of drugs and
go wild. But there are lots of others that create things and share them with
people that create things too.

~~~
fleitz
Couldn't agree more. The day before I left I felt stupid for leaving with a
start up no where near launch. Got in touch with my VC from the playa (camps
with wifi rock!), his words were "Burn On!". Met some people who could be key
on the playa, came back and all sorts of opportunities are springing up.
Definitely agree with you on the leap of faith that resources will show up.
Maybe it's just that we're more resourceful and willing to interact and take a
chance on others?

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ultrasaurus
To some extent it's important to remember that Burners tend to be richer on
average and on vacation (it's a little like a university campus that way, it's
just more priviledged than average).

I think the real reason it works so well, is there are huge numbers of people
who go there because they have an insatiable desire to build things, (both
physically and in terms of a community) and making your neighbour's burn
better makes yours better.

~~~
drusenko
This resonates well with my experience. One of the first-time burners in our
group said that the most shocking thing to her was that "everybody is doing
exactly what they want to do at that particular moment".

It's like vacation on steroids -- everybody is happy because they are doing
exactly what they want to do right then (in the context of the event, of
course).

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philh
ESR wrote a little about gift economies in either The Cathedral and the Bazaar
or one of its sequels, IIRC. I think the gist was that if resources are
abundant, a person's status becomes determined more by what they give away
than by what they own.

This doesn't sound quite the same, but similar. As one of the commenters
points out, the economy is self-selecting, which helps.

~~~
neilk
ESR knows very little about real gift economies. It's not always about
abundance. In potlatch culture in the Pacific Northwest, originally the gifts
had as much symbolic as practical value. The introduction of Western-style
abundance actually ruined the whole system. See Lewis Hyde's _The Gift_ for a
much more thorough treatment, particularly the first two chapters.

As for Burning Man, it makes no sense to call it an "economy" when there is no
scarcity. Every participant, with a few exceptions, has brought everything
they need for survival in the desert for a week. Due to the nature of the
event, few people are seeking luxuries.

Gifts at Burning Man are more about creating a mutually wonderful experience.
Sometimes they take physical form, but more often the donation is directly
related to experience -- art, performance, or a heightened generosity of
spirit. This is not very much different from the change of attitude one might
have at a potluck dinner, a block party, or a large rock concert where the
fans feel themselves to be part of a particular subculture.

