As thousands of people remain unable to leave the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert after heavy rains inundated their campsites with ankle-deep mud Saturday, authorities say they are investigating a death at the event.

Attendees were told to shelter in place in the Black Rock Desert and conserve food, water and fuel after a rainstorm swamped the area, forcing officials to halt any entering or leaving of the festival.

The remote area in northwest Nevada was hit with 2 to 3 months worth of rain – up to 0.8 inches – in just 24 hours between Friday and Saturday mornings. The heavy rainfall fell on dry desert grounds, whipping up thick, clay-like mud that festivalgoers say is too difficult to walk or bike through.

      • underisk@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        The other takeaway is that more than half the attendees make more than 100k a year so not exactly a minority.

        • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          100k salary is a decent amount of money but it’s far as fuck from being “rich”.

          • ANGRY_MAPLE@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            It might be a perspective thing, and how you both define “rich”.

            If someone gets by every week on ramen, a salary of $100k/year would seem like a crap ton of money. Doubly so if most of their community is also living off of ramen. One year on that salary alone would be life changing for this person.

            If someone lives in a pricy area and maybe has a few kids, a salary of $100k wouldn’t seem like nearly as much. Doubly so if most of their community makes that much. One year on that salary is just another year for this person.

            For some people, “rich” is not having to worry about starving and knowing that they have a roof over their head. It’s about finally being able to buy non-necessities, and it’s about being able to have things just for enjoyment. Some people are very month to month in terms of costs and bills.

            To others, “rich” is being able to buy expensive boats and cars. It’s about having excess wealth and never having to worry about any monetary problems. These people might think of millionaires and billionaires when they hear the word “rich”.

            Of course some people would consider $100k/year rich. I’m certain that MANY people would take that salary boost in a heartbeat.

            I’m not saying that $100k would set you up anywhere near as much as $1m would, but it’s a hell of a lot more money than many people can make.

            In 10 years, that salary is $1,000,000. For someone making $50k/year, it would take 20 years for them to make that much. For someone making $25k/year, it would take 40 years for them to earn that much. I would feel disingenuous telling someone who makes $25k/year that making $100k wouldn’t be becoming “rich” to them.

            Maybe that’s their monetary sweet spot, and they rely on other things to finish fulfilling their personal definition of “rich”. Family, friends, hobbies, etc.

          • underisk@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            If 100k isn’t rich to you then you have lived an exceptionally blessed life.

              • underisk@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                Tell that to people making less than 30k and describe the look they give you

                • njm1314@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  As one of those people you are presuming to speak for, no, I wouldn’t consider 100k rich. I find that to be an absurd statement.

            • socsa@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              Bro, median household income in the US is almost $80k. It’s not 1998 anymore.

            • Mog_fanatic@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              True for one person but this is household income. A married couple both making $50k would fall into this. While that is definitely not poor by any means. I think it is fair to say that it would be a bit of a stretch to call a person in the us today making $50k “rich.”

                • Mog_fanatic@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  What do you mean? The article that was pulling the data used “household income” as the data set… It is exclusively talking about household income.

                  • underisk@lemmy.ml
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                    1 year ago

                    Yeah I went back and checked. Wrong about that, but I’d like to reiterate that 100k is simply the lower bound of the range provided. It does not mean that any or even a majority of them were making exactly 100k per household. In fact, 15% are listed as 300k which is more than the amount of people attending making less than 30k. Then you also have to consider that households that do make 100k are far more likely to have single-income earners than households only making 50k.

      • Screeslope@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        People tend to acquire wealth over time? There is a solid correlation between wealth and age, so this shouldn’t be surprising in the least. And especially those who had time/energy to spare to attend festivals earlier are especially predisposed for acquiring now wealth down the line. Assuming that they return over the years, all of this is pretty much to be expected.

    • Youthless@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      —In 2013, the median age of burners was 32, and in 2022, it was 37.

      My take away was that it seems like it is the same people going every year: they are getting older and richer, because that is what happens over time.