The Burning Man Festival and Propaganda - Research Paper Example

Propaganda: The Power Beneath Introduction The Burning Man festival takes place on an annual basis when summer is approaching the end. The venue of the annual festival is in the Nevada desert approximately one hundred miles to the north of Reno. However, the remote location of the festival has not been a hindrance to the thousands of people who attend the festival. The festival of burning man is one of the explanations that emphasize the fact that propaganda has a chance of developing matters concerning human life. In simpler terms, the festival is a confirmation of the fact that some people have the ability to capture the attentions of others and to influence the manner in which the later parties think and act. Essentially, there is a conclusion that the festival is one that celebrates the creativity that one individual had toward the manipulation of the ideas of others. As such, this work will explain the correlation between the concepts of the age of propaganda and the concepts of burning man festival (Kozinets 12). The correlation could further be an explanation to the hypothesized concept that we perhaps all humans could be subject to manipulation of the ideologies of a narrow segment of persons, which is their propaganda. The work is, therefore, an insight to the idea that some of the most popular hypes in life develop into life-changing experiences, yet they have little relevance. The work is a development of the idea that the creators of the Burning man ceremony sought to be relevant enough to their followers by sympathizing with their moods. The founders of the movement thought of the idea that if they spent time in isolation, they would be happy. If the founders were happy, the followers would also be happy, which means that spending time in isolation meant that the followers and the founders were equally happy. The founders of the movement thought that they should make their followers feel cared for in the process of the festival. The founders believed that their happiness would only come with their satisfaction of the happiness of others. The work will also support the ideas we could all be victims of manipulation of the ideologies of one or a group of individuals, which is their propaganda. Alternately, some would say that the differentiation of ethos is what makes burning man an extreme creative, chaotic anarchy, inspirational enlightenment and civic sustainability. The Conceptualization of the Ideas of the Age of Propaganda One might wonder how ideas so small spread to the level that they become household facts and even form a part of the culture of their believers. Well, such a concept has its explanation in the Pratkanis and Aronson conceptualization of the development and use of propaganda. For instance, the two writers propose in their work that there is a role that propaganda plays in convincing people into believing ideas they should not have welcomed. The writes consider that the media has a considerable amount of influence on creating the perceptions of ideas. The media is responsible in this case for the making people believe things they could otherwise not have done so (McRae et al. 63). The age of propaganda highlights a number of ways in which the pre-persuasion stage creates influence on the spread of propaganda. One of the approaches is the wording of the ideas in which the book mentions that the leader of the WACO cult found in Texas transformed his name to create a more influential power on his followers (Sherry & Kozinets 119). The book also elaborates the power that the television media has in shaping the understanding of the matters in the society. They authors argue that people will tend to rely on the media in the event that they lack information forgetting that the nature of such news is persuasive on a number of unsuspecting individuals. The second aspect is the influence that source credibility has on the development of propaganda. In the book, Pratkanis and Aronson consider how communicators, especially politicians have on the spread of ideas. Such people would use their communicative powers to convince the rest of the people as well as increasing their influence on the same individuals. The authors suggest that the communicators have to increase their likeability if they have to appeal to their audience because a majority of the people only consider as credible those people they like. Essentially, the communicators would do so through the setting of simple objectives of what they hope to achieve. The simple goals make the communicators appear powerful should they produce them, therefore increasing their influence on the people. Another approach that the book points out is that politicians circulate ideas in the audience anonymously and in the event that the public reacts positively they end up claiming the originality of the concepts. The delivery of the message is one of the fundamentals of the effective spreading or propaganda. For this case, the parties involved will always strive to justify their points to their audiences. For example, the repetitive aspects of adverts create an appealing image of the items that business people sell to innocent customers. The manner of the process of communication is one of the tenets of the success that a piece of idea will spread among the audience. The final element that the book highlights is the effect that the control of emotions has on the development and the dissemination of propaganda. There is an acknowledgment that feelings of fear, courage, as well as granfalloon effects, affect the approaches of people to the credibility of information. Therefore, there is the realization that what a majority of the people believe concerning the ideologies of others could be mere propaganda, which the creators have since succeeded in making them factual. The Burning Man Festival and the Ideologies Expressed In the Age of Propaganda Why do so many people, academic and corporate, millennials to Baby Boomers, opulent and pinched, artistic and techie, coming from all corners of the world attend the Burning Man festival? We do we have such large numbers of people like those who attend the festival spend a junk amount of their time in the construction of things that will only last for a while? Why do so many individuals spend a junk of their resources on things that have no monetary benefits? What was the force that was so compelling that people could not hesitate in its adoption? Lastly, what are the significance of the festivals to those who attend it and their lives? The answers to such questions are the creative aspects of the developers of the ideas and perhaps, spread their propaganda. Believing the fact that Burning Man could be propaganda may be unwelcome for some of the believers of the movement. Most of the believers have since learned to associate the magic of the movement to social identity. Such a fact could still point to the idea that we could all be subject to manipulation of propaganda. Perhaps the analysis of the festival and its concepts could conceptualize the movement as propaganda, perhaps not. People Attending the Burning Man Festival in the Nevada Desert 30 August 2012: Source (Daily Mail-Google). Burning man started a life of its own, and the concept not only survived but also expanded and morphed itself. The makers of the idea utilized a junk of their time in the pre-persuasion stage to make sure that they attracted the attention of as many people as they could. The ideas live, inspire and work because its co-founder, Larry Harvey possessed the brilliance of the understanding that it required ethos with a deliberate yet open structure. Additionally, he considered that the ideas should be expandable, and flexible yet regulated. This work uses the word ethos, which means the way of life of the people. For instance, the development of the ideas began in 1986 when Harvey developed the idea of burning wooden effigy as a way of overcoming the difficulties of a breakup. Such events have similar roots in rituals of pagans. In the latter scenario, there is an erection of a scapegoat and a subsequent destruction as a way of casting off negative vibes and freeing the mind, the body, and soul. During the first burn for the former case, there was a small group of Bohemians from San Francisco gathered at Baker Beach. In doing so, the founder of the movement found the best approach passing on his message to the followers in a manner that would lure them into finding reasons to follow him. At that time, there was not much realization that the movement would soon transcend numerous cultural and demographic boundaries. The festival took a turn to the Nevada desert after authorities burned bonfire on the beach. There is a need to consider the creativity of the founders of this movement in attracting the attention of their followers and remaining relevant. The desert soon provides rejuvenated spatial freedoms that allowed for freedoms for exploration through the stripping away of the many constraints on the physical and mental states. As such, the founders of the festival found a better way of making their ideas novel and credible to their followers. The festival and the movement benefited a great deal from the accompanied rave culture of the 1990s (Sherry & Kozinets 119). The Desert provided an ideal ground for the formation of any ideas ranging from pulsating sounds to expressionism to churning all night because of the vast isolationism of the desert. As such, Burning Man developed the reputation of a temporary autonomous zone, which the thinking era of the rave fraternity call as TAZ. A majority of the intellectuals developed the feeling that the existing freedom to exist and create would soon be fueled by the existence of a destination with an ephemeral nature. The rave party camps soon transferred from the principle area of burning man. The matter later became wildly hazardous for a number of anticipated celebrants and drivers to cross between two regions in pitch darkness. For instance, some people lost their lives in 1996 after a drunk driver lost control and crashed into their tent (Johnson 23). Such an incident marked a turning point for the festival, which called for rules that would ensure the structure and the safety of the participants. The rules would also protect the liability of the organizers of the festival. Consequently, Harvey established a framework that incorporated the ideas and the ethos into the thriving aspects of Burning Man while assuring it if it’s legal sustainability and viability. By doing so, the makers of the festival found the best approach that would deal with the attention of the participants of the festival. From such point, it is noteworthy that creative aspects of the founders of the movement are the causes of the growth in its popularity. A comparison of the work of Harvey and that of the age of propaganda indicate that it required creativity and credibility of the creator. Today, the foundation of burning man has its roots on a gifting economy in which there exists no exchange of money for services or products. If there were a consideration of the propaganda aspects of movement, there would be a realization that the followers do not gain anything. However, such individuals consider that they gain the freedom that does not have testable proof. The movement could also be a confirmation of the fact that a conscious effort towards the creation and nurturing of ideas. For this case, there is no subsequent proof that the movement is a part of any culture in the world expect a hype. Yet it is amazing to see the numbers of people who attend it across the globe (Feldman 56). The developers of the movement have since managed to convince their followers that the festival has an accrued cultural relevance. The members have also learned to associate satisfaction with the events of the festival. Therefore, the answers to the questions raised in the previous section of this work become apparent from reasoning and understanding that all propaganda succeeds in creativity. First, the idea of the festival was the creation of one man who gained the support he wanted from his target audience (Farrell 1). The second consideration is the fact that the people in the movement considered their founders as being credible enough to deserve their following. Another considerable aspect is that the author developed the idea and developed improved aspects that made it more relevant to their audience. If the founders of the Burning Man movement managed to convince such a large number of people into believing a baseless idea what of the politicians (Bernstein 45). The idea that we could all be victims of propaganda develops from the ideology that politicians are among the contemporary propagandists around. To vote for any politicians depends on how best they express their propaganda. Such cases are no more different from the cases of the Nazis and the US war encounters. We could not wait on anyone to remind us that politicians make people believe in them and end up winning their votes. Conclusion This work has explored the ideas of propaganda according to the ideas expressed in the modern age of propaganda. The festival of Burning man provided a background of the expression of the fact that all people are victims of propaganda. The discussion could, therefore, ease the feeling that propaganda is not modern. For instance, the development and the later spread of the concepts of Burning Man festival is a representation of novel ideas of one man that influenced the entire world. For this case, the movement and its levels of effect on the followers is a justification that it takes determination to achieve anything. Another conclusion is that the best way to appeal to a large group of people is the creation of propaganda. There is even an argument that the festival could be one that expresses the truthfulness of the quotation that it matters most what people remember and how they remember and not what happened to them. The size if the burning man ceremony today is perhaps one of the justifications of the usefulness of propaganda in the nurturing of ideas that transform the lives of individuals. It is amazing how the concepts of the movement have found relevance and formed a part of the culture of the world. Works Cited Bernstein, Fred A. "Burning, learning: lessons from the burning man festival can shape the real world." Interior Design 2014: 140.Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. Burning Man: “Art on Fire." California Bookwatch 2014: Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. Burning Man: Fun for the Whole Family? n.p.: National Public Radio, 2014. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. Daily Mail. 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