Let’s talk about the myths curated around outdoor recreation as counterculture to consumerism and fossil fuels. I have some bad news about your new Patagonia jacket…
Reading this makes me think about how great wool is, and how sheep have been vilified as an environmental catastrophe. But all these petroleum-derived fabrics are considered to be just fine.
Definitely -- wool is a miracle material, and was the primary material used until tech fabrics and materials took over. Sheep's wool is a great alternative to some of the tech fabrics, and alpaca wool overcomes many of the pitfalls of sheep's wool -- mostly in terms of comfort, since it's not itchy. The thought paradoxes about materials, sources, and what's good and bad is definitely interesting.
Cruel but hilarious and true takedown of a myth that thrives on the inability of so many supposedly smart people to see the big picture or wonder where the stuff they use and enjoy and makes them feel superior to the grubby masses comes from. Kind of like the people who think the electricity for their Tesla comes from a wall plug.
Isn't it wild how they can put buzz words together and it's like a Jedi Mind Trick on their customers? How all of their gear is 100% derived from petroleum distillates, yet they say they're counter to fossil fuels and petroleum products, is so amazing, it's either a deep intellectual corruption or it's the biggest, most elaborate troll of all time. I especially like the Apres Ski video ... hot tubs out in the open in a ski area, and women in bikinis that are 100% made from petroleum distillates ... the irony? The cognitive dissonance this takes is off the charts ...
Classic : "Unless you’re a horse with a fat ape riding on your back (Mr. Ed, is that you?!), I bet less than 1% of all your outdoor gear is not made from petroleum"
Absolutely love this article. The 'here is the truth and I'm giving it to you with both barrels' is fantastic. Whenever I try to exposure the almost limitless benefits of fossil fuels to 'virtue signLsignallers' i mostly get a navel gazing response or occassionally 'I know I'm a hypocrite but we need system change' which translates to 'I'm not doing anything unless it's mandated because I'm an authoritarian' Your forensic analysis is wonderful. 👍
I’m curious: are you equally contemptuous of urbanites who enjoy the occasional hike in a national park as a pleasant form of exercise, but understand it as another one of their hobbies born of privilege, not fundamentally different from, say, pleasure boating?
Is it the false eco-virtue you despise, or the carbon-intensive lifestyle?
Interesting question -- I personally regard National Parks as museums of the places they once were -- tributes to a taxidermied version of their former-selves. And I find National Parks to be directly caused by urban culture and the infrastructure-centered mindsets that inherently come with that.
I'm not sure I take a position on pleasure boating, only because I don't have much exposure to that, being landlocked. But as far as both being hobbies born from privilege; Definitely. Especially National Park travel today, where the costs have gone up, you have to schedule your reservation time to be there, and the distances most travel to be in NPs -- all certainly born from privilege.
The false eco-virtue is the foundation of my despise, and the carbon-intensive lifestyle is only despised as a direct function of the false eco-virtues that appear to come with this new wave of recreationists. I'm basically pointing to the fact that the National Park hiker and the power boater are both petroleum-dependent powersport users -- one just happens to not view their petroleum-powered CUV driving to the NP or trailhead as part of their nature-centered sport of hiking.
It sounds like it's the false understanding that grates on you.
No one visits Versailles and sighs happily about how much they love life at court. To you, people who visit National Parks sound the same way when they talk about "time in nature"?
That's a good way to put it. I suppose the entire false rhetoric around recreational actions in nature is the grating part. How many NP users view their hike as being some kind of environmentally friendly action? How many think that nature is a space separate from their home areas, and is a place they visit? How many think that once they get out of the car and into //nature//, their whole experience was done sans petroleum products? It seems that most of the culture and rhetoric around 'outdoorsiness' right now is built on false premises and is largely constructed by large outdoor gear companies and magazines / influencers selling something.
Reading this makes me think about how great wool is, and how sheep have been vilified as an environmental catastrophe. But all these petroleum-derived fabrics are considered to be just fine.
Definitely -- wool is a miracle material, and was the primary material used until tech fabrics and materials took over. Sheep's wool is a great alternative to some of the tech fabrics, and alpaca wool overcomes many of the pitfalls of sheep's wool -- mostly in terms of comfort, since it's not itchy. The thought paradoxes about materials, sources, and what's good and bad is definitely interesting.
Cruel but hilarious and true takedown of a myth that thrives on the inability of so many supposedly smart people to see the big picture or wonder where the stuff they use and enjoy and makes them feel superior to the grubby masses comes from. Kind of like the people who think the electricity for their Tesla comes from a wall plug.
Wes, got a hot one off the press for you:
Snow Job: US Ski Team Races Against Climate Change in Petroleum Derived Ski Suits
Fossil Fuel Dependent Ski Industry Tries to Curb Global Warming
https://tucoschild.substack.com/p/snow-job-usa-ski-team-races-against
Isn't it wild how they can put buzz words together and it's like a Jedi Mind Trick on their customers? How all of their gear is 100% derived from petroleum distillates, yet they say they're counter to fossil fuels and petroleum products, is so amazing, it's either a deep intellectual corruption or it's the biggest, most elaborate troll of all time. I especially like the Apres Ski video ... hot tubs out in the open in a ski area, and women in bikinis that are 100% made from petroleum distillates ... the irony? The cognitive dissonance this takes is off the charts ...
Classic : "Unless you’re a horse with a fat ape riding on your back (Mr. Ed, is that you?!), I bet less than 1% of all your outdoor gear is not made from petroleum"
Absolutely love this article. The 'here is the truth and I'm giving it to you with both barrels' is fantastic. Whenever I try to exposure the almost limitless benefits of fossil fuels to 'virtue signLsignallers' i mostly get a navel gazing response or occassionally 'I know I'm a hypocrite but we need system change' which translates to 'I'm not doing anything unless it's mandated because I'm an authoritarian' Your forensic analysis is wonderful. 👍
What a great piece. And a perfect title. “Petroleum sport” indeed!
Thank you, and thanks for reading -- glad you enjoyed it!
I’m curious: are you equally contemptuous of urbanites who enjoy the occasional hike in a national park as a pleasant form of exercise, but understand it as another one of their hobbies born of privilege, not fundamentally different from, say, pleasure boating?
Is it the false eco-virtue you despise, or the carbon-intensive lifestyle?
Interesting question -- I personally regard National Parks as museums of the places they once were -- tributes to a taxidermied version of their former-selves. And I find National Parks to be directly caused by urban culture and the infrastructure-centered mindsets that inherently come with that.
I'm not sure I take a position on pleasure boating, only because I don't have much exposure to that, being landlocked. But as far as both being hobbies born from privilege; Definitely. Especially National Park travel today, where the costs have gone up, you have to schedule your reservation time to be there, and the distances most travel to be in NPs -- all certainly born from privilege.
The false eco-virtue is the foundation of my despise, and the carbon-intensive lifestyle is only despised as a direct function of the false eco-virtues that appear to come with this new wave of recreationists. I'm basically pointing to the fact that the National Park hiker and the power boater are both petroleum-dependent powersport users -- one just happens to not view their petroleum-powered CUV driving to the NP or trailhead as part of their nature-centered sport of hiking.
It sounds like it's the false understanding that grates on you.
No one visits Versailles and sighs happily about how much they love life at court. To you, people who visit National Parks sound the same way when they talk about "time in nature"?
That's a good way to put it. I suppose the entire false rhetoric around recreational actions in nature is the grating part. How many NP users view their hike as being some kind of environmentally friendly action? How many think that nature is a space separate from their home areas, and is a place they visit? How many think that once they get out of the car and into //nature//, their whole experience was done sans petroleum products? It seems that most of the culture and rhetoric around 'outdoorsiness' right now is built on false premises and is largely constructed by large outdoor gear companies and magazines / influencers selling something.