Decline of disposable capital
As the global economy continues to decline unabated, people have less disposable capital to pursue hobbies yet alone the struggle to pay off existing debt (student loans, car payments, mortgage, credit cards). The economy hit a wall in 2007 and TARP along with QE only bought time and neither restored the prosperity we enjoyed from the late '80s to 2007 nor prevented its further decline. The American standard of living is not what it once as depicted in Leave it to Beaver. In the post Y2K family, Ward (if he hasn't gone LTD/Long Time Deserter) still works, but June is selling real estate or working at a grocery store instead of playing hausfrau, Wally is flipping burgers if he's not in school practice and the Beav is selling drugs.
Also consider that the youth are into video games (Call of Duty, etc.) and not actual shooting sports. That along with the media stigma against anything that can go pew, pew, pew, makes it harder to attract younger generations to it. We face that very issue with a greying membership within the NMLRA.
Sorry for going off topic, but if we want our sport to continue, whether it is reenacting the F&I War, American Revolution, Civil War, Cowboy Action Shooting, we must recruit younger members now.
As the global economy continues to decline unabated, people have less disposable capital to pursue hobbies yet alone the struggle to pay off existing debt (student loans, car payments, mortgage, credit cards). The economy hit a wall in 2007 and TARP along with QE only bought time and neither restored the prosperity we enjoyed from the late '80s to 2007 nor prevented its further decline. The American standard of living is not what it once as depicted in Leave it to Beaver. In the post Y2K family, Ward (if he hasn't gone LTD/Long Time Deserter) still works, but June is selling real estate or working at a grocery store instead of playing hausfrau, Wally is flipping burgers if he's not in school practice and the Beav is selling drugs.
Also consider that the youth are into video games (Call of Duty, etc.) and not actual shooting sports. That along with the media stigma against anything that can go pew, pew, pew, makes it harder to attract younger generations to it. We face that very issue with a greying membership within the NMLRA.
Sorry for going off topic, but if we want our sport to continue, whether it is reenacting the F&I War, American Revolution, Civil War, Cowboy Action Shooting, we must recruit younger members now.
