How Yvon Chouinard Bought Goodwill for Billionaires for Next to Nothing.

I was surprised by a couple of things in a recent essay I wrote:

First, I was surprised by how well it was received. Yvon Chouinard is kind of a darling even of the hardcore activist left, and I was expecting to be roundly skewered for writing anything about him that was less than flattering.

Second, I was surprised that what little criticism I *did* receive for the essay didn’t center on any disputes around the facts… but rather a bizarre level of comfort with the continued influence of billionaires (and corporations) in American politics.

This was almost surreal to behold. For decades the left has been screaming to tax the rich, end billionaires, get money out of politics, and restore democracy… but that entire sentiment among a small but vocal constituency evaporated the instant the news broke that Yvon Chouinard would be “giving away Patagonia” (to a network of trusts controlled by his family, lol).

Suddenly,

• “Tax the rich” became “the government would just waste it.”
• “End billionaires” became “we’re just gonna have to live with em.”
• “Restore democracy” became “no one cares about climate change because it isn’t affecting them.”