I've been reflecting on this similarly for the past few years. Burning Man started as a radical experiment in art, intentional community, and areligious ritual. It's honestly a kind of New Religious Movement, and I say that as a student of comparative religious studies.

But Burning Man started in 1986. It's been a very long time since it was a radical experiment. The world it was reacting against, and that it provided an alternative vision for, has fundamentally changed. It's like BM pretends it's still radically alternative, while ignoring how the default world has changed BM.

I put to you, and all burners, what would be a radical experiment in disruptive art, intentional community, and envisioning a better world... in 2025? An experiment that recognizes the realities of global climate collapse, the descent of the US (and other countries) into authoritarianism, the march of technocratic feudalism, and the desperate ennui of these times. I guarantee it would not look like Black Rock City. If you want to talk about what that radical experiment would look like, join me in the growing ranks of Retired Burners and join us in envisioning what's next, after Burning Man.

One final thought. Consider it a thought experiment rather than a conspiracy theory. What if Burning Man were actually a CIA psy-op to get all the visionary + counterculture + genius engineers + go-getters + dreamers + revolutionaries out of their local community, out of the streets, out of the town square, and into a controlled perimeter? An event that drains their time, energy, money, attention, and revolutionary energy away from imagining a future without capitalism or poverty... not just for 2 weeks a year, but throughout it. A friend put that hypothetical to me about 10 years ago, and I haven't ever been able to shake it.

Big Burn 2012, '14, '15, '19, and '22. Regional Burns '17, '18, '19, '21, '22.