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Surf industry paradox: Surfing, by its nature, contradicts basic capitalism
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- lidHanteyk 7y agoLike, totally, bro. Capitalism is just how the man gets us down. The bigger lesson: Humans don't desire consumerist society.
- 0x4477 7y ago>The bigger lesson: Humans don't desire consumerist society. How exactly is this the case? By all metrics, humans love consumerism and it, or rather capitalism, allow us to enjoy an exceedingly high quality of life.
- ben_w 7y agoI would say: Consumerism helped grow the economy from the end of the agrarian era/start of the industrial era to a poorly delimited point in our recent history when we transitioned from industry to services. After that point, consumerism has been as bad for our mental health as high fructose corn syrup has been for our waistlines. Manufacturing and agriculture combine to less than a fifth of American GDP today; I say it would be better quality of life if Americans worked one day a week for the same material possessions, but the drive to consume ever more is the primary impediment to that. Similar arguments apply in the other G20 economies, but I’m not going to quantify them. Of course, I’m not an economist, so perhaps I’m doing a gross disservice to the real value of the service sector…
- phatfish 7y agoProfit seeking corporations love consumerism, most humans are fine with a safe warm place to live and enough food to raise a family. Convincing them to voluntarily transfer their wealth to someone else is the goal of consumerism, hence the ridiculous money spend on propaganda convincing people they need more things than they want.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoTotally agree. The number of people who naturally always want more is pretty low. Most people just want some level of security and comfort.
- notahacker 7y agoIf humans weren't naturally susceptible to consumerism, that money wouldn't yield a ROI...
- Ididntdothis 7y agoHumans are susceptible to seduction.
- bagacrap 7y agoI don't think the point of consumerism is to separate humans from their wealth. You could do that easily and more effectively with many other organizational structures. Look at "communist" dictatorships, or feudalism, or isolated tribes that have no means of trade; their general population is very poor and shut out from what wealth the land generates or has the potential to generate. The point of consumerism is to act as a motivator for the working class to keep working. Once you have that plentiful food and safe & warm hut, assuming that's all there is to aspire to, it would be very tempting to stay home from work on Fridays.
- homonculus1 7y agoBut... if you resist the temptation of shiny bullshit, we're so productive now that you could stay home from work on Fridays and the gears that provide that food and hut would keep turning. Why do people have to be motivated then? it just so happens that the excess of that extra work goes into someone's pocket.
- Fricken 7y agoThe climbing apparel industry is the same way. Patagonia, North Face, Black Diamond and Arcteryx all began as brands that catered specifically to the needs of climbers and alpinists, but now sell primarily to yuppies. It used to be that if you were wearing Canada Goose, it was because you were on some kind of expedition to the Arctic. Then movie directors decided Canada Goose was the way to go to stay cozy while on an outdoor movie set. I think it was Sundance 2007 and all of the sudden all the cool kids had Canada Goose parkas. Now middle class people wear Canada Goose parkas to signal to others their propensity for getting ripped off.
- HyperLinear 7y agoSame for Helly Hansen that went from sailing/climbing gear to generic fashion.
- goatinaboat 7y agoused to be that if you were wearing Canada Goose, it was because you were on some kind of expedition Isn’t their slogan now “built for urban winters”? They aren’t even pretending to be genuine any more, and that only makes them more appealing to posers, who think that “urban” means something else
- look_lookatme 7y ago> Patagonia, North Face, Black Diamond and Arcteryx all began as brands that catered specifically to the needs of climbers and alpinists, but now sell primarily to yuppies. They may sell a subset of their product to yuppies, but you can still outfit yourself for just about any outdoor pursuit with these companies and trust the gear they sell. TNF and BD tents are still high quality, TNF and BD and Patagonia jackets can be used on any trip. And Arcteryx is some of the highest quality cold weather clothing in the world. I would probably only prefer Western Mountaineering or Hilleberg to a combination of products from these 4 manufacturers. BD probably makes more money on selling headlamps to anglers and hunters than they do on yuppies buying climbing pants. The brands are nowhere near the lowend lifestyle fashion grab-bags that Oakley, Hurley, Quiksilver or O'Neill are...
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- mkettn 7y agoNo it doesn't. Surfing had it's boom and bust and now is a normal sport/hobby like skiing or everything else. In the future one could also argue: tech industry contradicts basic capitalism: nowadays anybody has a smartphone, the phones cannot get any better, and everyone takes care of their smartphone because they don't want to pay alot money for a new one.
- DanCarvajal 7y agoYeah I'm decidedly confused about the author's conception of surfing. They seem to be under an impression that the sport/hobby has inherent philosophical values.
- meheleventyone 7y agoIt's more that the core that would consider themselves the core have some widely shared values. Lot's of "lifestyle"/"adventure" sports are similar. And these are the people that started the brands that ended up not living up to their values.
- DanCarvajal 7y agoI guess I haven't entered to a sport/hobby that hadn't already past that stage of shared values. I snowboard and when I see other snowboarders I don't assume we share values beyond maybe finding the boots more comfortable than those for skiing.
- monkeynotes 7y agoI think that's a common conception of many surfers. Surfing is somewhat entrenched in philosophy. Surfers have philosophical concepts of individualism, territory, ecology, morality, and existential concepts surrounding their place in nature and what is truly important in life to be happy. Surfers can be considered to live their life like any spiritual individual. Their _god_ is the ocean, their pursuit is happiness in the moment recognizing risk and danger is a necessary component for a full life.
- jasonkester 7y agoThe article touches on the answer, briefly, about halfway down: The Surf Industry isn't about Surfing. Most of the things that the big Surf brands make are not useful for the actual act of Surfing. Even boardshorts from the major boardshort companies, about half their range can't be worn surfing. They're made from non-stretch fabric and intended to be worn around on the street. Google up a "surf shop" in a big coastal town, pick the biggest, most obvious one, and chances are you wouldn't be able to equip yourself to go surfing with the things you can buy there. It'll be wall to wall boardshorts and hoodies, with a hundred pairs of sunglasses along the wall and maybe half a dozen shiny new boards stood up in a corner for decorative purposes. Observe the looks the staff will give each other if you try to ring one of those up. If you want to go surfing, you need to find the little hole-in-the wall shop off the beach a ways, which will be stuffed full of wetsuits and boards, to the point where you can hardly walk around without knocking half the store down. They'll also have a few hundred pairs of boardshorts there, but surprisingly these ones will all have stretchy fabric and crotches that don't tear apart if you sink to your knees. The Big Surf Brands know that most of their business comes from selling sunglasses and flip flops to people who want to look like surfers. And they're doing fine.
- toyg 7y agoUh they are not doing fine, hence the issues at Hurley apparently, and the fact that all those brands have crashed in value. This is more the classic “brand X is now bloated and failing because it forgot its roots when going mainstream” argument. Nothing to do with capitalism (author was a bit confused there, or clutching at straws), everything to do with losing view of your core values and value proposition.
- ptah 7y agoauthor's point is that capitalist values is at odds with the core values and value proposition that these brands had at their genesis
- sooheon 7y agoCapitalism is kind of like evolution, you can't argue against it by giving the example of a poorly run company going extinct. That's capitalism at work.
- nmyk 7y ago> Believe it or not, there was once a day when Quik just made great boardshorts, O’Neill made great wetsuits, Oakley made the sunnies, etc. Soon, however, it seemed like all brands were in literally every category, unfortunately, not always doing that with much quality. I wonder if this is a natural consequence of the drive for "growth"–whether that be in terms of more profit, more features, or anything else. You see it in the big tech companies, which have a tendency to expand into areas like social media, cloud, and self-driving cars, regardless of their original product line. Programming languages, where as a language ecosystem ages, it grows to acquire the features of every other language. Niche communities and countercultures online and off get diluted into meaninglessness once they catch on with too many people. Memes degrade. Information entropy increases monotonically. I'm reminded of a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins called "God's Grandeur". The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs — Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings. Because for all this tendency towards monoculture, there is just as much evidence all around us of humanity's seemingly limitless capacity for reinvention and creation. Maybe decay is necessary in order to clear the way for what's to come. Maybe we should celebrate it!
- allsunny 7y agoFor the record, O’Neill still makes great wetsuits.
- codingslave 7y ago"Surfers, for the most part, don’t need more stuff, don’t want more surfers, don’t care about grabbing attention, etc." This is actually completely true. I'm friends with a guy who owns a surf shop in one of the highest grossing areas for surfing equipment/clothing in southern california, his biggest gripe with the industry is that surfers spend no money. They won't pay for parking, won't pay for surf apps, won't buy a new board unless they have to, don't really buy the clothes, etc. It's part of the culture. Edit: To add to his perspective, it's not about getting wealthy from surfing. The guy has been surfing his whole life, is a lifelong lifeguard, surfs 20 foot waves. He just wishes the industry could grow and innovate, but instead sees it stagnate. Sure the vibe and love for surfing is there, but I think he is frustrated that there is no wealth in the industry to foster further growth and investment. But then again, the way I see it is surfing as a sport is extremely limited, you can only do it on coasts, and only some coasts are actually consistently good for it.
- monk_e_boy 7y agoWhen we go to the beach twice a day for a surf - who can afford to pay for parking? Plus the jog to the beach is good for you. And some people what to look like a surfer. I am a surfer who wants to look like a normal person. Who buys a new board if they don't have to? Madness. I choose my equipment carefully, it has to match my style. Standing on some clever foam out in the middle of the ocean is tricky and very personal. I wouldn't say it's part of the culture, it's just being normal. I don't upgrade my PC to stay on trend. I don't upgrade my surfboard to stay on trend. They are tools.
- sooheon 7y agoDo you think propensity to spend is perfectly equal across all hobbies? Is it possible that surfers spend less relative to something like photography or sailing? By saying it's "just being normal", you're signaling that sensible frugality is normal to you. It's possible that value has some correlation with your identity as a surfer, no?
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- anonsivalley652 7y agoAs Louis Rossmann would say: Don't worry, Gov "King" Cuomo will require a surfing license very soon, that is unless he doesn't outlaw it like e-bikes first.
- ptah 7y agoPersonally, I only buy clothes etc that I need. Skateboarding and surfing has had a major positive influence on my life so I tend to buy from brands that sponsor and support riders that I like. I don't buy lots anyway though.
- stefanix 7y agoNot a contradiction. Voluntary exchange is central to Capitalism. Option to resist excessive marketing is within the framework. It's a cultural thing which some sub-cultures are better at then others.
- GrayTextIsTruth 7y ago> The Hurley debacle is getting most of the press these days >...And, of course, we all know about Hurley by now No I don’t. I even had to search myself and still don’t know. Just tell the reader, we don’t all follow surfer/skate news. What happened to Hurley? They closing shop?
- allsunny 7y agoOriginally owned by a “core” surfer, Bob Hurley, but was later sold to Nike. They still got a pass with some surfers because they made decent wetsuits and sponsored top surfers. Nike sold off the brand very recently and started cutting staff and sponsorships. The rumor is they’ll now start schilling their stuff in low budget retailers. Surfers have quickly jumped ship now that any semblance of being a “real” surf brand is gone.
- majos 7y agoNow? I've been seeing Hurley, Billabong, etc. clothes in downmarket retailers like Ross and TJ Maxx for at least a decade.
- pelasaco 7y agoWell I can just disagree. I'm surfer, 20 years surfing, and it's just as any other sport. The image of the free surfer, almost hippie, has 0 to do with the reality, if you are over 30s. Grow up!
- surfmike 7y agoThe article conflates capitalism with consumer materialism.
- gwbas1c 7y agoUhm, what, those brands actually made surfing clothes? I honestly thought those brands made cool looking extremely casual clothes! Obviously, styles change and things go out of fashion. Heck, I still own a pair of Volcom board shorts I accidentally bought 15 years ago because I thought they were a cool-looking bathing suit. I even wore them the one time I went surfing in Hawaii. I don't wear them often, because they don't have pockets, but when the occasion calls for them, (like spring skiing,) I love them.
- dahdum 7y agoI don’t think of board shorts as surf clothes, they are fast drying swim trunks you can wear around town. Great for all water sports, I usually wear mine under my wetsuit. Billabong also makes a line of khaki shorts (walk shorts I think they’re called) with the same material that are amazing for hot and humid tropical weather. Dry super quickly if they get wet, very light, and slightly stretchy.
- nradov 7y agoBoard shorts are too loose and long to wear comfortably under a properly fitted wetsuit. They get all bunched up.
- dahdum 7y agoYou’re right, when I need it fitted nicely I will wear Speedos under the board shorts for that. 90% of the time I’m scuba diving and have tech shorts that go over the wetsuit, so bunching around the legs doesn’t matter much.
- FlyingSideKick 7y agoMost of the best boards don’t come off factory presses instead they are built by someone with great passion in a small warehouse or garage. These guys are happy just getting by and sharing the stoke with customers they know. Moreover, once you become addicted to surfing that’s all one cares about. True surfers don’t care about the hype around the latest thing, once you buy your board and a wetsuit all you care about is getting that glide. If I didn’t have a family to support I’d make the yearly circuit from Sri Lanka, Peru, etc and just live on the beach for less than $10 a day and would be perfectly satisfied. I feel sorry for my office mates who don’t have any hobbies or escapes and instead are focused on the next bonus or promotion either for their egos or so they can buy more stuff. I just want more time off to travel with my family and surf. After 3 startups and 23 years in tech and many, many 12 hour days I can tell you the whole system is empty. Despite recognition or financial success there’s nothing in the system that brings true long term happiness, but the natural meditation when waiting on the wave or for the next set does.
- jandrese 7y agoThat's great, but from a capitalist standpoint it doesn't seem surprising that a company would struggle when they have a labor intensive product and their customers are largely cash poor. Worse, they set up shop in expensive coastal cities. It's kind of a miracle the companies survived at all. I get that the guy who runs it is passionate and is willing to also be cash poor, but the city has got to be breathing down his neck about the property taxes in a town where half a duplex goes for over a million dollars.
- lotsofpulp 7y agoEveryone knows that, but everyone, like you I suspect, is playing the game to optimize their children’s (or family’s) position in the social order. Desire to secure their future resource/financial security really throws a wrench in “letting it all go”.
- brudgers 7y agoIn the social order of surfers, optimization is living at the waves so the kids can surf with mom and pop. And with grandma and grandpa when there are grandkids. Locals are always the top of every surfing pecking order.
- loxs 7y agoThis article shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what capitalism is. Capitalism is not an entity that has its own free will and desires. Capitalism is a projection of what people want. If surfers want what they want, then that is capitalism for them.
- PaulDavisThe1st 7y agoThere are many books that would dispute your second sentence. I'll just note that what most people consider capitalism really consists of three components: 1) "free markets" in which what is sold and for how much is not (heavily) regulated 2) an entrepeneurial environment in which starting (and stopping) commercial enterprises is relatively easy and happens often 3) preferentially biasing the distribution of the rewards of commercial enterprises towards those who invest capital, rather than those who invest labor or IP. There's no rule that says you couldn't have a system with just 1 or 2 of those 3. Either way, they interact to create a social system which does indeed tend to drive a society in certain directions, and inhibit its ability to move in others.
- loxs 7y agoIt's true, but still the driving force is a common denominator of "what people want".
- PaulDavisThe1st 7y agoNot, the driving force is what people with disposable income are prepared to pay for. That's very different.
- asdfman123 7y agoThis is just the end result of demanding quarterly growth out of everything. Start with a brand that has "cool" factor, milk it for all its worth, obliterate the brand, and walk away with your CEO bonuses.
- motohagiography 7y agoThis is consistent with most lifestyle brands. Look at rock climbing. The people who spend their lives free climbing don't spend $300 on a hoodie and even if they did, there are diminishingly few of them to sustain a luxury company. Every autumn people in cities dress like they've just stepped off a horse or are on their way to a grouse shoot without the land, means, or skill to do either. Dressing like a rock star doesn't make you one, but that never stopped anyone from paying $200 for a pair of jeans. It's not capitalism, it's something else. On the consumer side, it's "mimetic desire," which is a whole complex thing. On the creative side, when you love something, how do you find a way to make enough money at it that you can do it as a way of life? Then once you do, how do you compete with well capitalized people whose interests aren't divided and who specialize in selling empty symbols to rubes? (answer: teaching, performance, and elite competition) When you are actually good at something, you don't buy symbolic things to represent it because representing it is hollow and absurd. It's not a paradox of capitalism at all. When you are actually good at something you love, you are above the fray. Paradoxes and criticisms are the noisy artifacts of people reconciling symbols, and not meaningful to people who are engaged in the moment. So, I'd say there is no surf industry, just an industry that sells surf symbols, and to surfers its failure is necessarily meaningless.
- Turing_Machine 7y ago> Every autumn people in cities dress like they've just stepped off a horse or are on their way to a grouse shoot without the land, means, or skill to do either. The (now purely decorative) holes punched in wingtip (U.S.)/brogue (U.K.) shoes were originally there to let water drain out, as they were a sporting/outdoor shoe. Basically they were the Crocs of their day.
- PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago> Dressing like a rock star doesn't make you one, but that never stopped anyone from paying $200 for a pair of jeans. Ironic, given the original utterly utilitarian origin of jeans.
- cma 7y ago
- m-watson 7y agoI don't think it solves everything but it is why I like the concept of B-Corps. I think the growth at all costs concept is at odds often with other important factors but we can adjust. I think B-Corps are a good start at re-aligning our evolving needs and our existing systems.
- nataz 7y agoHighly recommend the book "Let My People Go Surfing:The Education of a Reluctant Businessman, Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual" by Yvon Chouinard the founder of Patagonia and the precursor to Black Diamond (he spun BD out and sold it to his employees after losing a frivolous lawsuit). The man is a legend in the climbing community, and wrote a whole book on balancing professional vs enthusiast gear while following his own moral compass. It's a fascinating and worthwhile read for anyone who wants to find your own internal balance on being true to yourself and your values, while dealing with the realities of running a business. The discussions on what do we owe ourselves and others is a refreshing take on what it means to be successful.
- d3ntb3ev1l 7y ago[a] industry paradox.[a], by its nature, contradicts basic capitalism. Replace a with basically anything people do.