Rational Apathy and the Slow Death

jeepndel

Dir. of Operations, BRC
RATIONAL APATHY – THE SLOW DEATH OF OUTDOOR RECREATION
By Del & Stacie Albright
passion_logo.jpg


America has become a society of media hype, slanted education and brain washing, starting with kids in daycare school learning to hug trees, tolerate excessively and not listen to their parents’ teaching. At the same time, interests like outdoor recreation are being pushed aside for looming other priorities, some real, and some media-induced distractions purposely intended to keep us spinning in circles. We quickly lose sight of our passions and don’t even realize there is a slow death occurring.

One of our heroes, Chris W. Cox, NRA-ILA Executive Director recently wrote about “rational apathy” when it comes to the erosion of Second Amendment Rights (gun ownership issues). In his January 2014 column he talked of how people can be concerned about only so many things at once, “so unless they perceive an immediate threat to their own interests, they ignore small infringements on their rights, allowing them to accumulate over time,” Mr. Cox said. Certainly, this is a slow death for outdoor rights and access, particularly in our off-road world.

America is being distracted politically at nearly every turn. When something life-changing or threatening occurs, it seems we have something more pressing and near-and-dear to our hearts to deal with – and I’ll leave it to you to fill in the political blanks. We are at war, but all of a sudden our housing market collapses. We lose people overseas and the economy looms over our very ability to earn a living. Unemployment jumps off the charts, and all of a sudden a state enacts a law restricting detachable magazines in rifles. And the distractions continue on and on.

So yes, we get rationally apathetic. Rational means we have reason, or understanding. Apathetic means not having much emotion or interest. So when we combine these two terms, we see some Americans justifying – or rationalizing – not paying right now their membership dues in organizations, or not making donations right now to charities of concern, and in general being distracted by other issues that seem more pressing. In the meantime, the slow death permeates every crease and corner – eventually destroying a part of our rights and access.

In reality life gets in the way and we are all distracted by one thing or another. It’s been interesting to watch how there are plenty of scandals going on and the media is constantly using distraction tactics. Remember Benghazi, Fast N Furious, and Extortion 17; and did Osama Bin Laden’s body really get a burial at sea? Every one of these topics and issues has had their share of smoke and mirrors as well as media hype, while putting us in media overload. So once again we go about our everyday lives of working, trying to sort out our priorities, and surviving by telling ourselves that somebody else will take care of it and that there is only so much we can do.

Meanwhile, the anti-access busy-bodies who are passionately dedicated to shaping the world in their own exclusionary elitist likeness continue to chip away at our rights and freedoms. Much of the media and Hollywood types jump right in and “educate” us in the ways we “should” know – their way. We must moderate them and in some cases, we must stop them. We must not drop our passion in the outdoor sports we love. In fact, may we suggest, “Pass On the Passion” – keep it alive. Pass it on to kids; pass it on to elected officials; and pass it on to your favorite organizations fighting with you.

The key may be to focus on what your primary passions are. Maybe it’s gun rights and off-road; maybe it’s land rights and access and the kids ball team; whatever it is, stay in the game and do something about saving your passions with a once-a- week commitment. Or consider our “One for One Proposal” (http://www.delalbright.com/articles/one.htm) which suggests for every fun, outdoor day you enjoy, you write one letter, or make one phone call, or attend one meeting about landuse/politics. Or make one donation to your favorite group like BlueRibbon Coalition or your state, sport-specific organization.

Please do not let life’s distractions and myriad of priorities contribute to your losses and the slow death of outdoor recreation. If we pass on the passion and keep our rights and freedoms in the forefront of our lives, we can stop the slow death! The cure is to not lose sight of your rights and freedoms!
##

Del & Stacie Albright, aka “Team Albright,” are authors and outdoors advocates, writing internationally on landuse, access, rights and freedom. Learn more at www.delalbright.com. Del is the Director of Operations for BlueRibbon Coalition (http://www.BlueRibbonCoalition.com).
 

NMC_EXP

Explorer
"Rational apathy" is burnout in a person's civic life as opposed to work life.

Brings to mind Springsteen's "Born In The USA":

"You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up"


It is a thing to be guarded against.

Regards

Jim
 

quickfarms

Adventurer
I think it has to do with information overload in our digital society. I have some clients that do not understand why they can not call or email me all the time. They are oblivious to the fact that there are large, I was going to say undeveloped but some areas are developed such as the ski area, areas of this country that do not have cell or data service and what about that vast ocean off of our coast.
 

Dave Bennett

Adventurist
Thanks Del and Stacie for what you do. This "slow death" of what I see as "traditional American cultural values and outdoor recreation" is one of the reasons I started American Adventurist.
 

jeepndel

Dir. of Operations, BRC
All is well and again, pass on the passion....like Frenchie did. :) smile...The trick for all of us who love to explore our world (in the backcountry), is to figure out where to best place your passion.
sunset_contrails_text.jpg
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
If you'll indulge me, let me play Siskel to your Ebert.

For starters, one must take care not to sully themselves with the same generalized brush with which they paint others. I say this because you too may have overlooked some relevant news. At any rate, Cox's feeble construct of "rational apathy" is creative word-craft, but it is also pure poppycock. To allege that the unwashed masses are so challenged of frontal lobe capacity that they can only compute one input at a time is perhaps a bit purblind and bends the truth to suit an argument. I would like to present an alternative observation and theory.

The observation: People are actually very "passionate" about the outdoors and are playing outside in record numbers.

We can pull from a host of indicators that suggest outdoor participation, and outdoor activism, is at an all time high. With Q4 numbers just coming in from various industries we can see that the outdoor retail industry saw sales increase 6% YoY for a tally of $11.5 billion in gross sales. Mountain bike sales were up nearly 16% over last year. Even with the government shutdown, National Park visits were up over 2012 with nearly every district reporting increases in backcountry permit applications. People are recreating outside in huge numbers. Locally in the Prescott National Forest, more than 13,000 volunteer hours resulted in the construction of 16 miles of multi-use trail, the most in the district's history. In fact, the more common argument is how to disperse and manage the masses of people heading into the "outdoors."

My theory: While there are clearly plenty of passionate outdoor enthusiasts around, their brand of outdoor play simply may not support your own agenda.

When you use phrases such as "anti-access busy bodies," it serves to castigate anyone not walking lock-step to your own drumbeat. The reality is, you can't dragoon people into subscribing to your cause just because you want them to, nor invent excuses like "rational apathy" if they don't. And I really doubt people are too busy watching Benny Hill re-runs to fill out their Blue Ribbon Coalition membership forms. Perhaps they don't want to, I don't know. Other outdoor advocates you consider your antagonists are not having these bouts with "rational apathy." IMBA's membership is up as is their volunteerism. People are out playing in the woods, getting involved, but they may not be getting involved with organizations like the BRC. Doe's Mr. Cox's "rational apathy" only afflict those with certain access ideologies?

The purpose of my florid post is not to kick sand on your blanket or devalue your works. As an off-road enthusiast and someone who enjoys proper wilderness areas, I appreciate all aspects of backcountry travel. However, it's completely delusional to assert that people are no longer "passionate" about the outdoors. They are––clearly. They may not be as passionate as they once were about trundling down off-roads––I don't know. The numbers never lie.

At the end of the day, the off-road community continues to make everything an excuse or plaint. It's always the fault of, "those guys" or, "now they're too distracted by the news..." The reality is, fewer people are off-roading. More people are doing it poorly. Areas are being negatively impacted and gates will swing shut if the REAL issues within the off-road community are not addressed head long.

Exhibit A from just yesterday on ExPo's forums. This was not done by the "anti-access busy bodies":
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/121690-Rant!-F*-amp-People-Trashing-Trails

The above stats can be found at Leisure Trends, Vantage Trends, Outdoorretailer.com and the great google.
 
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agavelvr

Guest
The reality is, fewer people are off-roading. More people are doing it poorly.
What evidence do you have to support this assertion?

In Arizona, more people are using OHVs & 4x4s than ever before. I would hazard to guess they are doing it more responsibly than ever before as well. Most of our issues are with newly created unaffiliated OHV users. Without prior experience, they see the marketing material and go out and try to replicate what lured them into the past time. Rider education and law enforcement helps curtail that.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
This discussion in general becomes moribund at a rapid rate. My assertion is simply to illustrate that Cox is a buffoon and the notion of "rational apathy" little more than a conversational parlor trick. It's akin to a magician saying, "look at my assistant with the big ********** while I steal your watch." He's a simpleton and averting the facts that undermine his agenda for the sake of trying to make a baseless point.

Frenchie, my point with the PNF is to say that while Del asserts that "outdoor recreation" is waning, statistics nationwide are showing that outdoor evolvement is at an all-time high. My local example is was provided simply to illustrate that 16 miles of trail was built inch by inch, blister by blister, by hundreds of volunteers hacking at the earth. Not a policy to effect a trail, it is a genuine movement of the local masses to invest sweat equity in the very "outdoor recreation" Del says is faltering. Again, not just a local example, the international stats suggest "rational apathy" relative to outdoor recreation is complete BS. Again, a nifty talking point, but complete hot air and hyperbole.

People are flooding the outdoors. Even agavelrv, in an attempt to contest my assertion, supports my position by saying OHV participation is growing. Much thanks. I appreciate the validation. Like you said, people are clamoring for more time in the outdoors. Again, "rational apathy" relative to outdoor "passions" completely unsupported, but what ever. Don't let facts and statistics get in the way of a good argument.
 
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agavelvr

Guest
People are flooding the outdoors. Even agavelrv, in an attempt to contest my assertion, supports my position by saying OHV participation is growing. Much thanks. I appreciate the validation. Like you said, people are clamoring for more time in the outdoors. Again, "rational apathy" relative to outdoor "passions" completely unsupported, but what ever. Don't let facts and statistics get in the way of a good argument.

Hey Christophe,
The only thing you said that I am contesting is this:
The reality is, fewer people are off-roading. More people are doing it poorly.
The basis of your larger argument, no matter how much time you spent with a thesaurus, I agree with :sombrero:. When you pad it with what I quoted though...
you just make yourself sound foolish and out of touch with what is happening on the ground, at least here in Arizona.

Here's what I infer from Del's message... The BRC is hurting financially and needs paying members to step up with financial contributions to continue doing what they are doing. Unfortunately for them, I'm guessing this call to action letter was not crafted with everyone who frequents expedition portal in mind.

There is good news though, riders are building new, legal, single track motorized trails in northern Arizona. This is after the FS did their TMP and MVUM, without lawsuits, and it is the tip of the iceberg of things to come. When trail users and agencies work together, great things can happen. I prefer to spend my time building trail than sending money to organizations. Imagine what we could accomplish if every recreationalist of every type spent at least one day working hand in hand with their fellow outdoor enthusiasts doing something on the ground...build a trail, maintain a trail, help with monitoring effort, do a trash cleanup, etc. Act local and help create the trails you and your kids can enjoy.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
agavelvr, spend all day writing for a living and you won't need a thesaurus. :)

That said, where did I put that thing....<searching under desk>....oh, here it is. I would argue that Cox is myopic and looking for reasons to justify why the greater public is not only phlegmatic about his positions, but more to the point, in opposition of them. There is a difference. Creating a fun catch phrase like "rational apathy" may make him sleep better, but it's by no means realistic. If the public backed his positions, they'd make it known. Pretty simple social construct, really. But, if blaming Fox News or MSNBC for the lack of BRC or NRA memberships makes people sleep better at night, who am I to judge?

And just as I acknowledge that outdoor participation in the Prescott National Forest is anecdotal, I would argue that the participation of OHV enthusiasts in Arizona is also anecdotal and only part the whole. Good news all the same, but it doesn't indicate a national trend. That's a fair point you make. Point taken.

Like you say though, people are on the ground, tools in hand, building trails and getting involved. With real effort and sweat. That doesn't sound like the land of lazy Cox and Del describe. At any rate, I tire of the off-road community continually blaming others for their woeful lot in life. As you (agavelvr) have seen first hand, people who care put words into action. They're not distracted by the news du jour. If they care, the make the efforts. No ducking behind "rational apathy."

I also contend that the bulk of the off-road community feel that anyone with a predilection to travel beyond the ditches is out to close roads. That's complete malarky. Guess how many of us tree-hugging hippy types get to our favorite wilderness areas––by way of smoke spewing truck, that's how.
 

Xterabl

Adventurer
After reading so much drivel, I can only conclude that Mr. Noel disqualifies himself from the argument due to improper use of the word "evolvement".
But, to his credit, he DOES indeed maximize syllabic count for minimal points addressed...way to go buddy!
Huh. Still working on your thesis, or what?
Please buddy, hurry up and finish it so you can talk normal again :)
 

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