I worked for Lotus several summers ago... a lot of your criticisms are quite
applicable, though I'd like to point out a few things.
quoted 1 line Having read several issues of Lotus it seems to cater to the "Trance> Having read several issues of Lotus it seems to cater to the "Trance
community"
quoted 1 line or "new-age Traveller" community, who are in essence wealthy folks who> or "new-age Traveller" community, who are in essence wealthy folks who
travel
quoted 2 lines around the world to the most beautiful places, have massive fuckoff sound> around the world to the most beautiful places, have massive fuckoff sound
> systems that are programmed to play psy-trance dats all night long.
Musically, Lotus caters most to house-fans, or at least it did when I was
reading it/working for it. However, the rich, raver jet-set (psy-trancers,
anyone?) you mention is definitely included in their target audience. I
think most of their articles about health and spirituality are aimed at this
crowd.
quoted 1 line The goal of this travel & trancing is, seemingly, to meet people who look> The goal of this travel & trancing is, seemingly, to meet people who look
and
quoted 1 line think exactly the same as oneself and to co-opt & dilute as many cultures> think exactly the same as oneself and to co-opt & dilute as many cultures
as
quoted 1 line possible along the way.> possible along the way.
I agree that this is an outcome of the travel n' trance lifestyle, but I
wouldn't call it an outright goal. Most of the people I've met seem to
truly believe that they are bettering themselves and helping others by
throwing huge massives in impoverished countries. They're learning, you see
(in between puffs of DMT and e-tabs, of course!), and they're promoting
tourism (which they assume is always entirely beneficial to the country in
question... if you can solve economic problems, you can solve all problems,
right?). The fact that they are going to participate in their own
sub-cultural event that just happens to be in a foreign country doesn't seem
to enter the conversation.
quoted 1 line Upon your return to the vacant culture you call home (of which you are> Upon your return to the vacant culture you call home (of which you are
also
quoted 1 line ignorant) you can prefix every sentence with.. "when i was in _insert> ignorant) you can prefix every sentence with.. "when i was in _insert
country
quoted 1 line name_" while complaining about the luxury of your first world life.> name_" while complaining about the luxury of your first world life.
There are cultural dimensions to every country, place, group, etc. US
culture or modern European culture isn't vacant... it may change rapidly on
the face of things, but if you step back and look, I think you'll find much
evidence of cultural patterns. Take conceptions of time and space, for
example, or gender roles, the acceptability of various relationships and
rituals, faith in modern concepts like reason, progress, objectivity,
history, etc. Most (if not all) people are ignorant of their own cultural
moorings... no matter how hard we study to understand how we are situated,
there will always be a limit to how much we can perceive about the very
position we occupy!
Aherm, back from the tangent. Lotus is for wankers... they're just not
intentional wankers. As A3 put it,
"There ain't nothin' worse than some fool lyin' on some Third World beach in
spandex, psychedelic trousers, smokin' damn dope, thinkin' he gettin'
consciousness expansion." (Ain't Goin' to Goa)
Ariana
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org