They don't precisely know when we started wearing clothes, but weirdly, based on the genetic analysis of lice, it was likely around 90-170 thousand years ago. However, woven fabrics (not animal pelts) are far more modern, only thirty thousand years ago. For some context, farming started only twelve thousand years ago. And for more context, Homo Sapiens have been around for 200-300 thousand years, with our ancestors dating back around six million years. That means most of the time,
We have been naked.
But what is interesting today, is that it is only in the last 130 years that synthetic materials have been used at all in fabrics (Rayon in 1891), but now make up around 70% of all textile material and clothes. And funnily enough, while they ban single-use plastics like straws from being used, there seems to be very little interest in banning plastic usage in clothing, which is the single largest contributor of microplastics. You know, the shit in everything that gets into our system including our blood and causes all kinds of health issues.
Like an incredible amount of issues.
And they don't know all of the issues caused yet.
Respiratory issues are high on the list, yet we cover ourselves with blankets made out of plastics that shed micro plastics. Our carpets are made out of plastics, our clothes, the toys we give our children and a million other items that we can't get away from. Even if you choose only natural fibres for absolutely everything in your home, microplastics are in our drinking water, all food and drink we consume and the air itself.
There is no escape.
And the microplastics have more than effects on allergies and cancers, they also affect our endocrine systems, which means are hormone production is affected also, which controls how we feel and behave. Diabetes, thyroid function, puberty and fertility issues are increasing, and these are all hormone driven.
So in 130 years, we have fucked ourselves with microplastics and we will continue to do so, because synthetics are far, far cheaper and far more convenient and versatile than natural fibres. And while natural fibres also shed micro particles, it is more likely that because they are natural, our system will cope with them more effectively, with less negative impact. Yet, little is actually being done to reduce the amount of microplastics, other than making decisions that impact on the lives of ordinary people, but do very little to actually reduce the amount in the environment or what we consume.
It is like pretty much all of the environmental initiatives that are implemented by the governments, where it is all for show that something is being done, even though that something is ineffective in actually doing what they say they are trying to improve. It is at a huge cost for the consumer, but has negligible effects on humanity. Much like reducing carbon footprints by taxing consumers for usage, while using the tax money to drop bombs on enemies. Charging people more for electricity, but building data centres for generative-AI processing of deepfakes.
Environmental nonsense.
It is not that looking after the environment is nonsense, because we as humans can only survive in a narrow band of conditions and those conditions are changing. But, what we are doing about it is nonsense because we aren't doing the right things at all, because what we are doing for the environment is affected by profit maximisation. When profit maximisation is the most valued economic rule, and profit is best maximised through environmental and human harm, nothing much can be done no matter what individuals do. If it doesn't happen at the economic level, where environmental and human health is the core goal, it isn't going to happen.
Even if we all went naked, stopped driving and got rid of all future plastics, it would take a very long time* for microplastics already in the environment to stop having an effect. But even that is not viable, in the same way that it is impossible to cut our pollution to zero, or even reduce it significantly in enough time. This means that the only way to make a significant impact on improvement, is to innovate the way we treat the pollution we create, the way we clean the environment after the fact. Yes, reduction needs to happen, but innovation is the thing that will have the largest impact.
Yet, what are we innovating? Robots to do the jobs we don't want to do? AI to better serve our consumption demands? Electronics so we can spend more time being entertained? Better military equipment and weapons? More efficient financial tools to generate wealth? None of this makes us healthier or improves our wellbeing as a species, yet this is where our collective brainpower is being spent. It isn't being used to solve the problems that improve the conditions we need to live, but rather to avoid thinking about the problems that are increasingly taking our quality of life away.
Going naked leaves our body exposed to the elements.
Current culture leaves our minds closed to the reality of what needs to be done.
Taraz
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