Abuse of Power

[tongodeon]

Back in 2001 the US Government had a problem. Terrorists had attacked two major cities in a violent and terrible way that shocked the world. In a hasty reaction the White House drafted the Patriot Act providing the government with sweeping new powers, supposedly to protect our nation and its citizens from further attack. But they didn't just use

Comments

[veritatem]

i stopped attending for no more concrete of a reason than the vibe and crowd were not what i was looking for anymore. fourth of july on the playa, much more my vibe and crowd. and i lurve being in san francisco on bman weekend, having the place to myself :)

[tongodeon]

I was careful to say that these were "two reasons contributing to the decision" and not the exclusive reasons because there's a lot more to it, but this one was certainly worth mentioning. I've been to 4JP before and would like to attend again.

[anonymous]

"n a hasty reaction the White House drafted the Patriot Act providing..."

The patriot act was drafted before 9/11

how can the President Do Wrong????

[drieuxster]

Don't you accept that the president has special powers, like the lazer death ray eyes, and all....

Thanks for the virtual hostility kvetch though. It is one of the problems with an institution like 'burning man' becoming, well, an instituion....

Re: how can the President Do Wrong????

[tongodeon]

It is one of the problems with an institution like 'burning man' becoming, well, an instituion....

The thing that's amused me, and by "amused" I don't necessarily mean "disappointed", is that for an event that started out being about shedding the trappings of modern life the event has accumulated many of those same trappings: a power grid, a fire and police department (with jail). They're somewhere along the line from "really good encampment" to "really crappy city".

Re: how can the President Do Wrong????

[drieuxster]

Or put the other way around - many of the trappings of our modern world ARE COOL!!!

There have been a lot of interesting 'studies' of how various ages might have 'worked' - and what we have watched for 'free', has been which parts of the modern era are really worth carrying forward. What we have not seen work itself out is how to move forward the next step and work on what is a 'survivable and sustainable' 'crappy city' - and not merely the place that folks show up to do a bit of art and fart.

James was mentioning that the Clive Owen's tour d' force 'children of men' works as a lovely illustration of the wonders of how Capitalists Systems Collapse, and just keep on Collapsing until they start again. No one has really figured out a better working system once one gets to the place where one has Ferengi or their proto-ferengie precursors... The trick then is understanding how that fits into the whole process here...

Re: how can the President Do Wrong????

[tongodeon]

Or put the other way around - many of the trappings of our modern world ARE COOL!!!

That's kinda leading me into my third rant - Burning Man has many of the trappings of the modern world, but it seems to have more of the ones that suck and less of the cool ones.