What do you think of gifting at Burning Man?

[Scout]

I know gifting at Burning Man is one of the 10 Principles. But has gifting runs its course? I have read a lot of complaints about gifting on the BM website in e-playa. At the end of my first burn in 2001 I had a bunch of stuff that was given to me that I didn’t know what to do with. I was gifted some rubber dog poop. What do you do with that? Well, I found out that my 10 year old nephew thought that rubber dog poop was just about the funniest thing on earth, so I gave it to him. This gave me and idea about gifts I get at BM. Most of the gifts I re-gift to others who want and appreciate them.

What do you think about gifting at Burning Man? Do you like it? Do you think it should end? What do you think?

Scout

[DaBomb]

Is "gifting" the right word? Isn't it more like "giving". I don't know. I don't think we need 10 principles to burn things in the desert.

[Scout]

Below is the definition I got directly from the 10 principles.

Gifting
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.

I see the BM community as more of a giving community than a gifting community. I really wonder about all the complaints that people have about all the stuff they get given at BM that they don’t want.


Scout

[dr.placebo]

When people understand the basis of the gift economy it is great. We get art, massage, theatre, music, dance, activism, food and so much more shared without the "what's in it for me" attitude. Even more precious is the generosity of spirit that goes along with a "real" burner.

When people think of it as collecting schwag or spreading little plastic trinkets all over the place then it's just as boring as going to get an overpriced latte at a big coffee chain.

[Blade]

Just a thought: if you don't want something, you have the right to say "no thank you"- it's only a gift if someone wants to receive it.

[Juicy]

From each according to ability, to each according to need.

The best gifts are the ones of self, be it creativity, manual labor or just personality! Everyone gives and receives at burning man, so you can never really take away the gift economy. You *can* discourage plastic schwag and other useless crap by reminding people what it really about - giving from the heart. :-)

Much Juicy Love!

PS - I do always appreciate a spare piece or a nicely made necklace from a cool project, tho... Mementos and baubles can be such special reminders.

[Bee]

I was a little puzzled as what to give to pepole when i go to burning man so I took a look at the gallery on the website to see what others recived. It's quite intresting actually :) I'm thinking about macramaded items, Seeing as i love doing that. ::shrug:: Don't know yet.

[Scout]

Myself I like the act of creating things that I gift to people at BM. (Bee, like your macramé stuff) Sometimes the gift takes the form of labor. (Like you say Juicy) Like working on someone’s bike or helping someone build their camp. It’s all part of the experience.

Being gifted to at the burn has really taught me a lot. I have always found it really hard to accept gifts from people. Receiving gifts at BM has opened a way for me to accept gifts without that feeling of what do I have to do for them now.

Scout

[Blade]

Yeah, keep in mind you don't actually *have* to run around handing stuff to people, either... As Scout mentioned, there are lots of ways to give something of yourself to people and participate without trinkets; not that those aren't cool too, if they're a personal thing from you, just keep in mind they're not, like, "required currency" or something, either.

For myself, I don't really have the ability to make anything cool, so my way of giving and participating is being a Lamplighter, bringing light to the city every night- I may not be able to paint or macrame or sculpt or whatever, but it's still something pretty and neat that's shared with *everyone* (while being enough work to satisfy my personal take on the tenet of "participation").

[Scout]

Blade,

Lamplighter’s sounds like a fun and great way to give.

What I like the most is the fact that everyone that goes to the burn are all put in the same situation where you are surrounded by interesting art, people and one of the harshest environments I have ever encountered. I find BM to be a lot like the city after a big snow. A lot of people get out, get very happy and help each other out. Some people get cranky and either leave or stay in their house.

Scout

[DaBomb]

I find BM to be a lot like the city after a big snow. A lot of people get out, get very happy and help each other out. Some people get cranky and either leave or stay in their house.

Funny, I find that to be a similar experience after a major earthquake (I'm based in LA).

[Scout]

Major earthquake? How’s that? It sounds very interesting.

Scout

[DaBomb]

Well, it's a little different than a big snow. It's a lot more traumatic, less happy to be out of your house because you're been snowed in. But what happens is a communal bonding experience because as a community (drink) you've experienced the same thing. Now it can get ugly when supplies are low...not enough drinking water, people freaking out, bla bla bla. But that is temporary. It's not like a wasteland and everybody needs water and hasn't had water for a week. But it can also be heartwarming to see people come together to help and heal in the aftermath of an earthquake.

This is LA and fortunately, we don't have thousands of people dying as a result like they do in other countries that lack of building and safety codes. Deaths do occur, but I've never had that as a part of my personal LA earthquake experiences, so I can't speak to what that may be like.

I can only imagine what it must be like for survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

[ChaCha]

I love that we have the capacity to be awed! having the ability to gift support, relief, concern for/with others is also pretty awesome.