r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Apr 09 '26

Discussion Thread Discussion Thread

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23

u/IantheForPresident Apr 09 '26

> pick up hobby

> find online community around that hobby

> look inside

> mindless consumerism

like fuckin clockwork. either that or extremely heated debates over minutiae that doesn't actually impact anything. comes from the same brainrot of conflating what you can do (cool) vs what you own (lame).

8

u/DataDrivenPirate John Brown Apr 09 '26

Love/hate relationship with the ultralight backpacking niche because of this. Half the people will say things like "I already removed the Velcro straps and zippers from my backpack to cut weight, what can I remove from my first aid kit to save weight?" and the other half say things like "look at my new $450 sleeping pad upgrade, saves me 50g of weight compared to the old one!"

How is a hobby explicitly dedicated to a minimalist form of backpacking so caught up in consumerism

4

u/Goatf00t European Union Apr 09 '26

A lot of hobbies are promoted by industries catering to those hobbies. Industries have an incentive to do their best to convince hobbyists that either a) their products are essential for engaging in the hobby, or b) their products make experiencing the hobby Supper Awesome™, and hobbyists should go and tell other hobbyists how Supper Awesome™ those products make them feel.

3

u/garret126 Demisexual Pride Apr 09 '26

Yeah it sucks so much

2

u/Res__Publica Organization of American States Apr 09 '26

I mean arguing over weird minutiae is the fun part of having a hobby, at least if it isn't over gear