A message from Burn2's newish ranger Co-Lead

Greetings all,

If you hadn't noticed, last May I became Burn2 rangers co lead.. I ended up not making too much of it.. A ranger is a ranger after all. I had gone to the trouble of writing this message and then well, never released it. looking back over it I realized well, it was something that should be said, so here it is:

There is a tongue in cheek saying at Burning Man: “Rangers do Nothing”  Well, just like many sayings at Burning Man the complexity is much deeper.  Rangers Primary duty is conflict resolution and upholding the community principles. We do nothing at first to find out, Listen, and Analyze, and then if needed we do something. That something always varies due to the situation and should always be as minimally disruptive as possible. The goal is to add insight at the appropriate moments, to right the course of the community, rather than demanding compliance to any specific rules or resolutions. There’s even more depth to it, but those topics can get lengthy so will be elaborated on separately to not make this post too long.

To get to the point of how it all works is that, through their presence and fair actions, Rangers earn trust and social credit in their communities allowing both the Rangers and their community to function better. Or, at least that’s how it was supposed to work. Unfortunately as many of us observing have seen it’s not quite been that at times. 

I feel the need to say this to maintain the trust and social credit I have earned over the years with many of you. And it would not be true to my own outlook on how to mediate and improve this to become silent.

For accountability, I must state my observation and opinion, that I have made over multiple years, that Burn2 rangers has not functioned entirely as it should. There are a number of reasons why that has been the case, and there are discussions yet to be had in regards to that. I am not saying this to directly point fingers and call out blame. We are all imperfect and I too have not walked a perfect path. For right now though, I want to personally apologize to those who have been hurt by those failures over these many years. Rangers should have done better and We can do better. 

My outlook and goal for Burn2 Rangers continues to be to bring the same accountability and integrity to the Rangers here at Burn2 as exists in the Burning Man Rangers at BRC. To do this is will require change.

I have observed the want for change and improvement by many of you. I have been listening and observing that for many years. The recent vote to proceed with the bylaws framework officially shows it. Change always comes, no mater if some like it or not, the challenge is making sure that all are still comfortable to come back into the light of the fire at the end of the day to share their stories.

Thus I and the rest of the Burn2 Rangers are here, ready to listen, observe, and then provide what insight is needed to uphold our principles in this endless cycle.

Build, Burn, Repeat.