Please, I’d love to hear peoples’ thoughts on this. Especially people who do NOT attend Burning Man or regional events.
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What do you think of when you hear “The American Dream”? What does that mean to you?
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This is the theme chosen for Burning Man this year, which is a counter-culture festival. Whatever you know or don’t know about BM, how do you think this theme fits the event?
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After you answer the first two, please read this description of the theme and it’s meaning for the event. Does this change your viewpoint of the theme and how it fits the event?
It’s a very controversial theme this year, even more so than the Green Man (environmental) theme last year. The fire conclave group I joined asked our opinions about it, and I was curious what outsiders thought. Please if you have a moment, share your opinion!! Thanks!
k8et's ramblings 
To me, the American Dream means the rags-to-riches aspiration, the idea that if you only work hard, you can be anybody in America. Doesn’t mean that I believe in it, but that’s what it was marketed as. As such, I am not sure how it fits Burning Man — when I hear “The American Dream” I think of factories and Hollywood starlets.
“What can America still contribute to the world?” Well, the more I learn about America, the more I find how little I know about it, so I am not sure how to answer that question. Nowadays, the whole developed world is the magnet of immigration that America has been before, which leaves the question of what other role it plays in the global society.
Thanks for your thoughts!! i find it interesting that you brought up the immigration issue, and how america is no longer needed for the melting pot it once was. here’s what i wrote on our fire conclave list that asked our thoughts, or if we thought it was corny:
(warning I’m speaking pre-coffee. or pre-finishing the first cup after a long week anyways… ;o)
my first impressions are it’s completely corny.
when i read the deeper discussion of it, I felt that it’s less corny – but only once you take the time to dig beneath the surface of it.
“the ideals on which America was founded: democracy, equality, freedom and opportunity – a vision of unbounded hope for an improving future. It seemed natural for Americans to think their country was a master model for the world. ”
the ideals were good – but the egotistical idea that we had all the answers has been proven wrong. perhaps the error was in stopping those dreams at the boundary of America and not extending it to other countries. so I am glad that the plans for the man base aren’t just the American flag.
I think we’ve proven that the American Dream isn’t enough on it’s own, and it needs to become a HUMAN dream, for all people, in any place. We were founded on all “men” are created equal – but somehow that became all citizens of the US are equal. (and even then, it’s better in theory than in actual practice.)
But just the title of the theme doesn’t convey that at all. Hearing only the title, it comes across as either serious or as a complete farce. Neither of which, to me, are very flattering to the BMorg….. (the organization behind Burning Man)