Personally I am very split on this entire debate and cultural movement that is happening around PA's burning of the man early.

I think the way that this has split people is incredibly fascinating and fucking amazing example of the Microcosm that is BM. BM despite its flaws or strengths is proving to be a model for our society in so many ways.

The split between PA supporters and Hatersz is pretty interesting when compared to our 2 party system, as someone has already pointed out, and its very difficult to not get pigeon holed into one or the other. At least in this case it seems.

Did he make a statement? I think so. Was it a valuable one? I'm not so sure. Using destruction as a means for revolution, while deliciously tempting, seems to merely repeat a cycle that ends up getting alot of people riled up and hurt. Even killed.
Whats funny (in that not actually funny but kinda scary kind of way) is how many people are spouting INCREDIBLY hateful and violent energy at each other around this.
This event, and BM in general, seems to bring out a fanatical side to people that is a far cry from the assumed aware and innovative society that I perceived when I first attended in 2001.

I am seeing more and more people insulting each other around maligning what "BM is about". Am I alone in finding that incredibly contradictory? Anyhow...

One thing I do feel strongly about is that a very good friend of mine had a year of his time wasted when his project was cordoned off due o the man being burned early. "The Giving Tree" was an innovative project that included a synthetic tree that used sonar to locate a participant in its field of influence and would then proceed to use an incredibly complex piece of software to hold a conversation with who ever came up to it. It would record responses to add to it's database of words and phrases, while also using frequency analysis technology to "judge" the emotional content of a statement which would change the course of the conversation as the tree decided whether you where a friend or not.
My friend worked very hard on that and he was unable to share it with community. He wasn't hurt physicaly. In a sense he did lose some resources that where allocated to a certain unmet outcome, and he is actually not that upset about it. He's a good man :)
But regardless, an artist was effected in a negative way and I believe that matters. Especially at BM.

I could ramble on and on, but i will end with this: Instead of arguing about who is stupid, who is less then, who is right, who is wrong, or who should be punished or hurt in what way, I would like to suggest that we slow down and see and feel how we effect each other. I don't think that course of action will hurt anyone or infringe on anyones freedom in any way shape or form, assuming that actually matters to most. After that, i don't know. But it couldn't hurt, and maybe one less person in the world would stop howling for the blood and suffering of another.