Reading through this thread through my naturally occurring and hardly-alterable Leftist lens has me shaking my head.
If you're going to buy Nike, just own up to their business practices not being problematic for you. I have zero reason to think Converse, Adidas, NB etc are much different. These companies all fucking suck for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality and skatability of the shoes they produce. Sorry to be the one to tell you.
I am not saying Lakai is any better or worse - I dont know/understand their supply chain, labor policies, or sustainability practices. Stuff that's kind of well-documented for Nike, but I am willing to bet it isn't great and is rooted in profit first over anything else, including Slap Pal's perspective on what's core or not.
As far as what's core, that ship sailed a long time ago in shoes. You can be angry about it, but this is the result of Nike's very successful strategy of infiltrating the market when and how it did and how all the other corps followed suit.
I said it in the other thread - Consolidated warned people. As corny as it was, and as corny as Consolidated is/was - they were still right. Vans might be the worst offender. Yeah, we all love Love Letters, yeah, they've done a lot of cool shit, built some rad parks etc etc but VF is interested in what's core as long as it supports the bottom line.
I guess supporting Sole Tech is an option that feels better, but I'd be interested in seeing their books and understanding how leveraged they are and how that position may have improved after the financial crisis in 2008.
Bottom line: shoes are fucked. Nike is the worst option (as well as the worst thing in skateboarding) for lots and lots of reasons that I dont need to rehash.
Now excuse me while I go put my Last Resort's on to go skate.