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I was pondering how the philosophy of the social experiment that occurs during each Bonnaroo might best be characterized....
Certainly, it's post-modern... you see anarchy blossoming into collectivism and socialism, "peace and love" hippie communalism bumping shoulders with capitalism and consumerism, pragmatism and surrealism and transhumanism all sharing the same stage... and on and on, a true patchwork quilt of ideologies... I was googling all these things and stumbled onto the wiki for the "Situationist International", with which I was only passingly familiar and read this quote which is perhaps the most fitting description of Bonnaroo I've yet found:
The first edition of Internationale Situationniste defines the constructed situation as "a moment of life concretely and deliberately constructed by the collective organization of a unitary ambiance and a game of events."
Welcome back Bonz, but I do not find it strange that your presence being requested in the Orgy thread and then you showing up, like it was the quacking Bonzai Bat Signal.
I was pondering how the philosophy of the social experiment that occurs during each Bonnaroo might best be characterized....
Certainly, it's post-modern... you see anarchy blossoming into collectivism and socialism, "peace and love" hippie communalism bumping shoulders with capitalism and consumerism, pragmatism and surrealism and transhumanism all sharing the same stage... and on and on, a true patchwork quilt of ideologies... I was googling all these things and stumbled onto the wiki for the "Situationist International", with which I was only passingly familiar and read this quote which is perhaps the most fitting description of Bonnaroo I've yet found:
The first edition of Internationale Situationniste defines the constructed situation as "a moment of life concretely and deliberately constructed by the collective organization of a unitary ambiance and a game of events."
Discuss!
This is the best post ever on here. We need more intellectualism and philosophizing around this place. In the context of American society (and especially the Bible Belt), Bonnaroo certainly does act as an interesting social experiment. However, 4 days is too small of a sample size to definitively conclude anything. Theoretically, if the event was somehow expanded to two weeks (or maybe even a month would be better), we could more accurately judge behaviors because it would be less of a vacation to the subjects involved. Too bad that will never happen.
"A congregation of hippies in a capitalist world."
There is nothing not capitalist or consumerist about the event itself (in terms of structure and organization). So it's really just a mimic of the real world. The only significant difference is that most people are hippies. the "anarchy" is just a facade.
I would argue that it is not a fundamentally consumerist event in that it's not a celebration of material goods and wealth. Outside of the mimic'd market structure, there's a far more robust socialism (giving to those in need) and bartering then you see in the real world. There is also the flipping of the capitalist paradigm in that the corporations present have to provide something to the participants instead of expropriating wealth from them.
Where is the money spent? Tickets, vendor items including food and memorabilia, and head-feeding consumables... This is orgiastic capitalism at full-throttle, with consumers willingly burning through $millions in just a few days. It's Woodstock sieved through an Excel spreadsheet for maximum profit, with the thinnest coat of opalescent hippie veneer.
but I do not find it strange that your presence being requested in the Orgy thread and then you showing up, like it was the quacking Bonzai Bat Signal. 
