I almost didn’t watch the Super Bowl because I was tired of the Chiefs, indifferent toward the Eagles and am grossed out by the NFL leveraging Taylor Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce to get more viewers.
Well, that’s not true. It was one of those empty threats like you see on social media because I knew I was going to watch, but was temporarily seduced by the temptation to almost take a stand.
Activism has been reduced to egocentric social media posts that are at best the preamble to something, but nothing usually happens. But we sure feed good about ourselves.
I’m not an activist. Whenever it seems like I am close to finding a hill that looks comfy, I change my mind, the hill gets crowded with people who undermine the cause and erode my spirit or I discover another hill that makes some good points too so I settle into the middle.
My activism is like mogul skiing. I bounce from issue to issue, never cresting the mound, just getting high enough to get bounced off and onto another. It’s overwhelming. How do you know which one is the most important hill? Do I have the entire story? Do I want it?
When it comes to products and companies, I like idea factories more than I like activist identities and though I should vote with my wallet, my conviction waivers if the company makes good gear and the discount is 50%.
I like that Patagonia has amplified good ideas and that its sole purpose isn’t lecturing people about their carbon footprint, then going about their business feeling morally superior, without taking a sip of the climate change cocktail they expect others to chug. Corporations who manipulate carbon credits and politicians who pander are gross.
I like Patagonia because it’s a company that seeks complex answers and supports ideas rather than pandering. Patagonia is vehemently against open-ocean fish farms, but also Big Oil.
Most of our state’s funding comes from oil production plus revenue from investments, and the more we invite consumptive and non-consumptive visitors to generate revenue the more it erodes our own experience as residents.
So how could I support a company that doesn’t support how Alaska gets funding for things like education at a time when schools are closing, vocational educational courses are being cut and teachers are leaving?
How could I buy a product from a company that is advocating for a future that potentially undermines Alaska’s financial stability? It’s relatively easy.
Patagonia would not be mistaken for a company that supports the MAHA movement, but it has purposefully removed PFAS (forever chemicals) and is actively working to promote alternatives to using pesticides and herbicides on food. Patagonia is doing more to advocate for a healthier American diet than those who simply ridicule the FDA for allowing harmful chemicals in our food.
We need ideas and better ways of doing things and Patagonia is looking to address big problems with big solutions, not just investing big money in big image campaigns.
If nothing else, Patagonia makes really good gear.
The world is messy, complex and impossible to navigate without some level of moral dilemma.
Plus, to ridicule or banish a company for their political stances is to ridicule their application of the same freedom I enjoy.
People have every right to boycott Patagonia because it hates Big Oil or sell their Tesla because they hate Elon Musk.
Red 5 has been banned in cosmetics since 1990, but if you still want your Red 5 — Red 40, Yellow 5 too — as long as Froot Loops doesn’t take a political stance, then that’s your right.
• Jeff Lund is a freelance writer based in Ketchikan. His book, “A Miserable Paradise: Life in Southeast Alaska,” is available in local bookstores and at Alpha XR. “I Went to the Woods” appears twice per month in the Sports and Outdoors section of the Juneau Empire.
