Filthy Lucre

via Forbes

“It is not enough to succeed.  Others must  fail.”

In the alleged hiker community, there seems to be a backlash against people profiting off their work aimed at users of the outdoors.

This backlash is mainly on-line based with some spillover into “the real world”.

I am not sure what the root cause for this backlash may be, though I have some ideas.

If someone writes a guidebook, sells a memoir, offers photos or even has some affiliate marketing links, then somehow the person is “selling out” or misguided at best.   Curiously, if someone makes gear, then there is hardly a peep.

To quote one somewhat well-known person:

The hiking community is full of people who have really done a great service to help others. Thank you! At the same time, others seem like they are more out to make a living off of the hiking community.

First, very few people are making a living off the hiking community. At most, any income is an adjunct to a day job.  In my own case, I receive a modest amount of money off some writing, the occasional photo and if someone decides to purchase something  via an affiliate marketing link. If I lived on these proceeds, I’d be broke. Truth be told, it covers an occasional purchase of gear and part of the gas money at most.   My day job is much more lucrative.

But, even if a person does make a “living off the hiking community“, I am not sure why that is a negative purpose.

A person invests time and money and becomes a person who is knowledgeable about a subject. Certification and/or skills are acquired. A product is produced based on experience.

That product might be a book, or articles, photos, guiding or talks among other things.

The argument is that some of this overpriced…but overpriced for what?

If people are willing to pay for a product, then is it overpriced?

In the case of a guidebook, I have no desire to pay for something like the Rocky Mountain National Park guidebook. But, I am very comfortable with looking at a map for routes and looking at such sites as SummitPost for additional information.

Someone busier than myself (and, perhaps, less comfortable with looking at a map for routes), may prefer to spend the $20 for route information that is laid out ahead of time.

I’ve made similar observations before for guided trips.

People will pay if they think a service is worth something. If not, the person providing the service will lower their price and/or no longer offer the service.

It is how capitalism works.  Capitalism has its faults. But a positive about it is that a product will wither, flourish or change depending on what people are willing to spend for a product. No money? No offered product.

Take the music industry… Currently, many compact discs (CDs) costs $9 on Amazon.  In 1992, the same CD would cost $17. Or $28 in 2014 dollars.

Why the sharp decline in pricing? Because people, overall, do not want CDs any more. They scratch, aren’t easily portable and take up a lot of space vs an iPhone that has access to a vast library in the cloud or even stored locally in MP3 format.

People no longer see CDs as being worth $28 a piece.

Obviously if someone is buying a product, then there is some value to it for many. I may not care for Wild, but I also don’t question Cheryl Strayed’s motives or think it is awful she is profiting off the book when there  are many “better” (subjective term) authors.  I just go “meh” after reading the book, move on with my life and read books that are more interesting to me.

I think On The Beaten Path is a superior book. Other people do not, have not heard of the book, or are not interested.   But I am not going to get upset because a book I like more has not done as well.

Mind you, criticizing a work because you do not like it is one thing. Criticizing a person because what they did to produce that work (e.g. making money off their hiking) is something else.

I think part of the reason for decrying people “making money off the hiking community” is a bit of sour grapes:

• If I have to work a non-fun job to pay the bills. Why should other people, who are no more qualified than I, get to do my hobby for money?  

• Other people, including me, have done this before or even better. What’s so special about it?

But I also see another strain. Call it the hippy syndrome. Where somehow it is wrong to “profit from a passion”.  That to earn some money off what other people may do for free or fun somehow seems disingenuous.

In 2011, I wrote a satire…perhaps it is more true now:

Real hikers do not write books, make gear, sell photographs,  get sponsored by outdoor companies, give talks or benefit in any way, shape or form from their passion.

All real hikers with any talent for the above do for free.

If you are a real hiker with any kind of talent that may relate to the outdoors, consider finding a meaningless cubicle job that does not make use of your passion.

If someone is fortunate enough to make a living out of their passion, they are not a real hiker. Make fun of them anonymously on the Internet!

Oddly enough, I am not expected to perform my IT job for no pay, a mechanic does not fix a car for free and police, firefighters and EMS personnel receive a wage for their public service.  Yet there is a backlash against people who provide an outdoor service for money. Esp if the person is very public and popular. A notion that somehow it is less pure perhaps to profit from passion?

As for gear manufacturers not getting criticized for profiting through the outdoor community?  Well, people like their gear…. And, I think, the thought process goes “Anyone can hike, but I can’t make gear!”   So gear manufacturers are perceived as providing something of tangible value that can’t be done by most.

But backpacking, gaining experience and then guiding a trip, writing, giving talks, writing a book, and so on based on the experience , AND making a living on it,  are also things that can’t be done by most.

If so, more people would do it…myself included.

Having the time, ability, passion, right set of circumstances, desire and sometimes even luck are all needed.

Instead, we have a lot more people criticizing what has not been, or can not be done, by them.