Better question… how do we find our own self-esteem without denigrating others for making choices that are absolutely none of our concern?
Eh, a little gatekeeping is good. Especially when it prevents people with more dollars than sense from overrunning the culture of an enthusiast group.
Elaborate. Is your position that it is never appropriate to control access to something? That microcultures aren’t worth preserving? That people with money deserve to do anything they want without judgment? Or do you just think I’m being disingenuous and used a commonly unpopular group to defend my position?
But the most expensive gear isn’t necessarily more dangerous than the entry level gear, and in some cases, may even be safer.
Right, but the issue is that if they don’t know what they are doing then the gear is irrelevant. I’ll give an example. If I’m skiing and I see someone hiking up to the off-piste bowl run in brand new topline gear, and they are visibly struggling to do the hike, I can ssume they are inexperienced and might really hurt themselves or crash into someone else.
FPV drones and the surge in popularity of BnF quads. You used to have to at least know how to solder it all together.
Oh god. You can buy one on Temu for $10. I’m guessing they overheat and explode.