I have never been to Burning Man and I read about it every year. I would much rather go to a beer festival but the art and the creativity of Burning Man probably has no second. The few friends I have that are into it really seem to enjoy it and value the experience. Netflix has a pretty cool documentary on it but here is a fun link to check out:
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/burnergirls/
Now where I take issue with the whole event is the 10 core principles.
http://burningman.org/culture/philosophical-center/10-principles/
Most of the principles seem to be sound but I take issue with "Decommodification."
While preaching to all of their participants to not engage in commerce or any exploitation it seems that the organizers of this event have monetized the shit out of it. Good for them in creating an event that you make a ton of money off of, exploit the masses for their creativity but then say others can't do the same. Only the organizers can profit should be the principle.
Leaving no trace is pure bullshit. Imagine the number of metric tons of carbon released into the atmosphere while everyone drives and flies to this event, the actual burning of the man pales in comparison. What this should be really called is "Leave no trace that is visible to the naked eye."
Aside from that... very cool creative event in which masses create a majority of the experience.
I would say steemit is the same thing. A very creative and cool community driven experience that makes you want to participate but you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to participate in.
Please comment. Am I way off?