RATIONAL APATHY - THE SLOW DEATH OF OUTDOOR RECREATION

 

 

RATIONAL APATHY – THE SLOW DEATH OF OUTDOOR RECREATION By Del Albright, Sustainable Motorized Recreation Advocate   America has become a society of media hype, slanted education, and brainwashing, 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 media-induced distractions purposely intended to keep us spinning in circles. We quickly lose sight of our passions and don't even realize a slow death is 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.  Indeed, 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 suddenly, our housing market collapses.  We lose people overseas, and the economy looms over our living ability.   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 their membership dues in organizations, 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. The anti-access busybodies who are passionately dedicated to shaping the world in their exclusionary elitist likeness continue to chip away at our rights and freedoms.  Much of the media and Hollywood types jump in and "educate" us in how we "should" know – their way. We must moderate them and, in some cases, stop them.  We must not drop our passion for 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," which suggests that for every fun, outdoor day you enjoy, you write one letter, make one phone call, or attend one meeting about land use/politics.  Or make one donation to your favorite off-road jeeping organization.   Please do not let life's distractions and a 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 at the forefront of our lives, we can stop the slow death!  The cure is not to lose sight of your rights and freedoms! ##

 MORE HELPFUL LINKS:

DEL'S BOOKS (LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, COWBOY POETRY, AND MORE)

WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)

PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

DEL'S ARTICLES (LAND USE, LIFE, WILDFIRE, VOLUNTEERISM, AND MORE)

 More land use and volunteerism help here:

• MEETINGS:
• RUN A BETTER MEETING
• NEPA: 
• LEARN MORE ABOUT NEPA
• LETTERS: 
• WRITE A LETTER
• SPEECHES:  
•  GIVE A SPEECH
• FACILITATE: 
• LEARN TO FACILITATE MEETINGS
• CLUBS:
• WHY JOIN A CLUB
• CONVOYS:
• ORGANIZE A CONVOY
• JOIN:
• JOIN THE RIGHT GROUPS
• TRAINING:
• GET VOLUNTEER TRAINING
• LEAD:   
• LEAD VOLUNTEERS
• JOBS:  
• CHOOSE THE RIGHT JOB FOR YOU