Comments on: Cargo Cult is a daring – and dangerous – theme. Get it right.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:58:05 +0000

Thanks for writing this. It is a positive take on and intelligent background to what is essentially a culturally insensitive theme. I can’t really see a Jews in the Desert or Holy Mass official theme at Burning Man – though I’m not against it :) – Agnostic as I may be, it always makes me wary to mock the culture of others from a western white pedestal. Thanks for writing.

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By: john curley

john curley — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 04:01:16 +0000

what a fantastic piece, Caveat, and thank you for doing the work that it took to research, synthesize and then write so adeptly.

Most of the subject matter is new to me, and without wanting to sound goody-goody about it, all of what is being explored here, in the piece and in the responses, is happening because of the theme. That’s already a win.

Burning Man is a lot of things: this year it’ll be cargo pants in the missionary position AND it’ll be an intellectual salon on the nature of colonialism and resistance.

You’ve really helped set an interesting stage. Thank you.

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By: Senor Blanco

Senor Blanco — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 21:59:12 +0000

Excellent post.

“What fundamental realities are we … a culture that prides itself on being the most knowledgeable and rational on earth … making bad but rational assumptions about, the way Cargo Cults made the bad but still rational assumption that it was the activities of running an airport that brought the planes that held the cargo?”

If I were taking this on (and sadly this is not as rational as you had hoped), I’d say it’s our gargantuan energy consumption. Our entire rational society has reorganized itself around a completely irrational behaviour: consumption of non-renewable resources. We have turned from a sustainable society (say, 2000 years ago) back to a hunter-gatherer society, only hunting is now called “exploration” and gathering is now called “production”, and our population is limited by those resources to a degree that is not commonly recognized (cf. _Overshoot_, by William R. Catton, Jr.)

Once those resources are gone, if we haven’t undergone a massive cultural shift, there will be cargo cults building faux gas stations and even, yes, faux airports hoping that the gods will somehow refill the earth with oil.

Bleak, perhaps, but that would be my take.

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By: Chicken John

Chicken John — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:16:21 +0000

I’m no fan of thematic fundamentalism. Or the LLC. Mostly I guess it’s the LLC. But it’s hard for me to seperate the theme from the power hungry megalomaniacs that have a stranglehold on this event and, subsequently, the culture surrounding it. They are so ugly that you just want to avoid anything they have anything to do with.

But…

But lets say the theme isn’t a terrible idea, and that it’s just that Larry is bad a picking themes. Lets say for the sake of argument because Caveat blew a week of his life writing this exceptional piece. Lets say that all the other themes (especially the 7 ages of man, that was a stinker) were bunk but he accidentally hit on a good one. Lets consider it for a moment.

Sigh…

I can’t do it. Cargo Cults are fascinating, but it’s not going to inspire any artwork, any theme-campery, any art carring and certainly no thinking. This blog post will likely sum up as much intellectual stimulation as there will be. There is no outlet for it, there is no medium for it and there is no impetus or reward for it.

But…

In the future, Larry will tout that all of you monkeys stepped to it. He will re-write history and talk about how in 2013 every camp was a cargo cult camp. He will show select photos (from any year) to support his bullshit. How many people made relivant themeatic art for The 7 Ages Of Man? No one. That’s not what he says. As great as an intellectual excercise as this is it’s just not possible that this can be anything but interesting. Here. On this page. That’s all your going to get.

Why? Because Burning Man isn’t set up as an intelectual salon. It’s set up as a business and an ego bath for a few super lame, sad people. Watch, there will not be anything that has anything to do with Cargo Cults. Like the year the theme was Floating World everyone went pirate. Or the year of the Body. Sure, someone squeezed a heart or something in there, but it’s just luck. When is everyone going to get exausted by this culture of not good enough?

But it’s a great article and there are some great responces here. We just deserve a better festival then the one that is being provided for us to consume.

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By: contemporary area rugs

contemporary area rugs — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:07:19 +0000

You could certainly see your skills within the article you write.
The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they
believe. All the time follow your heart.

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By: )*(

)*( — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:43:15 +0000

Quentin and t groan you guys are spot on.

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By: sageburner

sageburner — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 07:03:59 +0000

I think it’s very clear with this theme, that BRC’s John Frum is an extraterrestrial being. I hope I see a lot more play with that, than a thousand boring makeshift airplanes.

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By: Melinda

Melinda — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 06:14:52 +0000

I like the idea of looking at ourselves as members of a cargo cult, waiting for something better to arrive, to deliver us. For some of us, our John Frum is technology, or science, or Jesus, or Enlightenment. I watched a video filmed at Burning Man of people telling the Dr. Seuss Story “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” and one place they talk about is the “waiting place,” where people are waiting around to be rescued instead of taking action and living life with love and cleverness and creativity. What will people who come from a mottled, confused synthesis of cultures have to say about culture. I think there will be a lot of serious talk at the festival. It will be important to educate, empathise, debate share ideas and certainly not to judge.

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By: Countess

Countess — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:25:44 +0000

Bravo Caveat.

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By: Felix

Felix — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Cargo Cult Science
1974 Caltech Commencement Speech by Richard Feynman
http://youtu.be/yvfAtIJbatg

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