4 ms·

Bleh, I am getting really tired of all this billionaire worship. It seems like every day I can't escape people's endless simpering about how the rich this, or h

Bleh, I am getting really tired of all this billionaire worship. It seems like every day I can't escape people's endless simpering about how the rich this, or how the rich don't need to that, or whatever. The rich don't need to be focused on so much. They don't automatically dominate any culture they set their eyes on, and some minor squabbling over how comfortable it's acceptable for them to be at an anything-goes event like Burning Man is pretty stupid.

darkmighty 12y ago
The thing is, power scales almost linearly with money. And $1 billion is a lot of money. I believe they could buy that whole patch of desert for that matter.
michaelochurch 12y ago
I've never been to Burning Man, but I've always admired what it stood for, and I'm saddened by the high-placed ignorance that threatens to destroy it. No one begrudges billionaires for attending. They can go, as long as they leave the snooty class politics (for which that set of people, even if not all are guilty individually, is known) and exclusion at home. Being rich never made one PNG, because it went against the ethos to exclude a person because of the behavior of that person's social class in "the rest of the world". The problem is that these assholes are bringing their rest-of-the-world exclusionary behavior into it. The same horrible thing they did to California, they're now doing to the Burning Man.
forgottenpass 12y ago
They don't automatically dominate any culture they set their eyes on When someone blends in socially they - by definition - blend in. Once gauche behavior shows up, the culture is going to change. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. When opulent behavior shows up, you have someone with significant means to alter the culture and without the social graces to adapt to the culture they're entering. The ball to dominate is already rolling. I grew up as "a local" in a tourist trap town. There were rich locals, and rich interlopers. It ain't about money, it's about attitude.

darkmighty 12y ago

The thing is, power scales almost linearly with money. And $1 billion is a lot of money. I believe they could buy that whole patch of desert for that matter.

michaelochurch 12y ago

I've never been to Burning Man, but I've always admired what it stood for, and I'm saddened by the high-placed ignorance that threatens to destroy it. No one begrudges billionaires for attending. They can go, as long as they leave the snooty class politics (for which that set of people, even if not all are guilty individually, is known) and exclusion at home. Being rich never made one PNG, because it went against the ethos to exclude a person because of the behavior of that person's social class in "the rest of the world". The problem is that these assholes are bringing their rest-of-the-world exclusionary behavior into it. The same horrible thing they did to California, they're now doing to the Burning Man.

forgottenpass 12y ago

They don't automatically dominate any culture they set their eyes on When someone blends in socially they - by definition - blend in. Once gauche behavior shows up, the culture is going to change. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. When opulent behavior shows up, you have someone with significant means to alter the culture and without the social graces to adapt to the culture they're entering. The ball to dominate is already rolling. I grew up as "a local" in a tourist trap town. There were rich locals, and rich interlopers. It ain't about money, it's about attitude.