Pat Russell wrote in message . ..
Allow me to summarize what I have learned from this thread.
Soaring has declined for these reasons:

1. Money
2. Accessibility
3. Competition from other activities
4. Elitism

Valiant efforts have been made to lessen the impact of the first
three, but isn't it embarrassing how feebly we have tackled the
fourth, the easiest one to address?

No, It's not the easiest to address. Those that practice it, probably
live the rest of their lives the same way, and don't really care if
they're doing any damage or not. They don't see it, never will
because it would have them take a good look at themselves, and find
that they're far from perfect.

The first is probably insurmountable, common sense says food for the
family is more important than time in a glider.

The second, depends on how far one is willing to travel, and in my
case, I'm not.

Third, something has to offer more than the others, and depending on
the interests of the individual, for most of the population, soaring
is pretty far from the top of the list, if it ever made it to the
list. No different than any other hobby. Soaring gets to scramble
for the interest and the bucks just like any other activity. If it
makes the cut, you got one, if not, better look for another one.