Why is rei liberal? Left wing politics leads to socialism and communism. Ask yourself if a communist or lefty does anything to preserve wilderness?
Escape into wilderness is one of the few ways left where the government can’t monitor you. It goes against everything they believe in.
REI is the modern lefty slacktivism version of true eco defenders. They sponsor baseless
Change.org petitions, do a few photo shoots with [insert diversity here], and have cutesy shirts with funky slogans proclaiming how woke! everyone is. Yet the more woke people become about wilderness, the more people go out and trample on it, continuing the destruction of our earth. Fighting for equality in nature means they place the interest of [diversity here] over the interest of the land, which primarily needs to be left alone to thrive. Do you really think REI cares about how many blacks, women, Hispanics, gays go outside? Or do you just think they are expanding their customer base? REI is a corporate overlord the same as Walmart or Amazon but their profit comes at the expense of pillaging of natural spaces. Did you forget the geotagging of wild spots with good views, the rise of social media photographers, the trail apps, that REI uses? They all contribute to the overpopulation and subsequent degradation of the earth.
The gear for actual outdoor exercises has declined in quality because there’s so much LARPing/outdoor fashion bullshit for city slickers to wear their embroidered Patagonia’s to their nearest public park for a walk.
People who shop at REI aren’t destroying the wilderness, but they all have collectively decided that a corporation destroying wilderness for profits is okay.
