The Principles of Burning Man and How We Live Them
Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey wrote the Ten Principles in 2004 as guidelines for the newly-formed Regional Network. They were crafted not as a dictate of how people should be and act, but as a reflection of the community’s ethos and culture as it had organically developed since the event’s inception. Following are the ten principles and how we as a camp strive to embody them.
Radical Inclusion
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community. The Kingdom has members from over 20 countries, all walks of life, and we welcome new members every year.
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. We take the ArtCar out to gift fun, friends, drinks and music to all on playa. Each camp member also creates their own personal gift to share.
Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience. We sell no merchandise and have no beer or alcohol sponsors.
Radical Self-reliance
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on his or her inner resources. Every camp member must bring their own supplies and must contribute to the creation, running, building, and striking of camp.
Radical Self-expression
Radical self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient. Each member creates a unique gift to share with others. The camp as a whole creates a new item every year (tokens, cups, jewelry). We also offer hand crafted drinks and the full ArtCar experience as our gift to others.
Communal Effort
Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction. We as a camp work together all year to make our combined vision a reality. We all volunteer our time before, during, and after burn in many capacities. This collaboration enables us to create an experience that is fulfilling and unique.
Civic Responsibility
We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws. We ensure all of our vehicles are road ready and up to date on registrations and insurance. We Follow all state, federal, and local laws. We respect the city and citizens of Gerlach and all of the BLM personnel that enable us to participate in Burning Man every year.
Leaving No Trace
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them. We have a camp leave no trace plan that is shared and discussed with all camp members. We help each other stay accountable for cleaning up after ourselves continuously, DeMOOPing not only our camp but others as needed.
Participation
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart. We ensure all of our camp members contribute and work but also have time to play, explore, and enjoy the other art of playa. We are joining with other camps to form a hub so we can create an even larger community
Immediacy
Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.We invite everyone to come into our camp to dance, socialize, and play . We strive to get our members connected to other camps, people and art. We are all here to have the time of our lives together.
