Well, a lot has transpired in my relationship with the Burning Man community since coming back this year. A battle between myself and one of the regionals seems to have come to a head and a letter I wrote to BMorg seems to have been a catalyst for some changes.
I guess as any group, there is some politics that come into play and as I have personally involved myself more the deep I got into it all. I felt like I had to fight the very person who is supposed to be supporting the 10 burning man principles. It was so frustrating because that kind of thing causes fallout which impacts other people directly or indirectly.
In this time I have met and talked to people connected with Burning Man the corporation about problems here and said my point of view. That is I told my perception of the story that really does not need to be revisited on this journal.
Since then 10 people have put their names into the hat to be a regional representative for Burning Man in the Southern Nevada region; half of them really have no business do it because they have no clue about this community. I might have said that about another person on the list of candidates but one of the new people to this community has shown an interesting spirit I can relate to.
It will be interesting to see how this regional role process plays out and how the community embraces or supports these changes. 2 current regionals need to be unseated – period. There are a variety of reasons on those counts.
Of the current candidates, I can say I am genuinely worried about the stability of this region regarding leadership. If I am chosen or asked to take the roll I will, but I can see a rocky path ahead; I hope to be surprised.
The people on the list are so diverse, but there is a ‘click’ in that group that is definitely not a good thing for Las Vegas burners. Unfortunately, I hate sounding like a pessimist, but Burning Man has a blind spot and I think it could lead to the ultimate degradation of everything it stands for and has built.
One thing is certain, the longer this goes on the more fractured Southern Nevada Burners are becoming and have become. Some say nay, but it is unfortunately true. We need a voice that can bring people together and build bridges. We need more from Burning Man than Larry Harvey standing in a bar. We need a dynamic voice like Marian. I do not know Stephen Raspa or a lot of other people, but seriously… we need more.