IDM Mailing Archive

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