Is Burning Man Burnt Out?

1. A Place for Billionaires to Escape to?

Attendees have been drawn to the event for its principles and in recent years it has a had a pull on those interested in zoning out within the drug culture. But, in a land where the only currency is in "gifting," it's also the place for billionaires to spend the week assessing their true survival skills at. Always big with tech types like Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, as well as rich people types from Kenneth Lerer, media mogul, angel investor, and  co-founder of the Huffington Post, to billionaire and entertainment industry icon Tom Freston,  this year's crowd is sure to include a slew of other Billionaires following in their footsteps. Which poses the obvious questions:

• Is trading and bartering for pancakes with a billionaire each morning really the vibe you were going for when you loaded up your worn out mini van with E and headed for the desert?
• The first time the event has ever been sold out, veterans are upset by what they see as impending commercialization.  While the ticket price of $210-$360 is reasonable to take part in the community, people are now selling tickets as high as $25,000, a price set for profit. The people that can afford that ticket obviously fit in this "rich people" camp. Doesn't this totally go against the whole founding principles?