The hippies didn't like being labelled as hippies because the mainstream culture used the term derogatoraly and the connotations became overwhelmingly negative. Some hippies decided to rebrand their counter culture revolution as the "yippies" but that didn't catch on. The 60's counterculture revolution, which started with the beats in the 50's and the dragged well into the 70's was born out of San Francisco. The 90's counterculture revolution was also born out of San Francisco. They're called burners and they're are many parallels between the two flowerings. The revolution of the hippies was against the restrictive society which was overdue for a civil rights movement, an end to the war, education reform, etc. Mainstream America pretended their objective was drugs, rock music and denim but of course there was a lot more to it than that. Likewise, the revolution of the burners is a rejection of the TV culture which wants us to live our lives vicariously. To go to the desert is to extricate ourselves from the mass media so we can live our own lives in ways undreamt of by marketting executives.

Our counterculture flowering is getting long in the tooth as well. It's spread across the country (and the world) and has gained widespread media attention. Most burners don't mind the label of burner, yet. Soon that will probably change as the media marginalizes our event as a drug rave with costumes. Already, the event has changed because of this perception. 7-10 years ago, Burning Man was much different. It was much more about individual self expression. Now it's about dancing to other people's music. The oddball musical ensembles are few and far between having been replaced by dj booths. Costuming aside, there isn't nearly as much participation. There's still infinitely more than in the living rooms of the real world but less relative to where Burning Man started from.

Looking ahead into the future, I think burner aesthetics will be incorporated into the mainstream. Kids will be able to dress more outrageously without being called a fag. Just like the kids of the 80's could get away with wearing long hair, ripped jeans and a tie dye. And to be fair, the hippies didn't really lose. Though our policies may not reflect it, people are much more aware of the peace movement, a more nomadic lifestyle and environmentalism. Likewise the burners will push their urge to live amazing lives into the mainstream world. Burners have forever changed the world which will soon be waiting for the next explosion of resistance to the predominant world culture.