Too Scared?

The problem is money. There are too many people making too much money by keeping people wearing shoes.

Think about it. Shoes are a multi-billion dollar industry. ($59.2 billion in 2008, according to an American Apparel and Footwear Association report.) A lot of corporate bigwigs would be very unhappy if people decided to stop wearing shoes. And they have the marketing ability to do something about it.

All of the misinformation, all of the lies, all of the fear is promoted by the shoe industry (and even by podiatry practioners. I mean, where would foot doctors be if people stopped wearing shoes and therefore stopped getting all these foot problems for them to treat?).

Until we figure out a way to make it economically valuable to go barefoot - until we figure out a way to give someone a financial stake in keeping people out of shoes - it isn't going to happen. We will forever be a small chunk of the population who will always be looked at as strange.

We need to figure out how to "sell" going barefoot. And actually make money doing it. Until then, the shoe-selling Mega-Corps will squash us under their heels.

 

I couldn't agree more on your last comment.

And I know all about what socks do. At the same time, when we have to wear shoes, it's important to not wear the same pair over and over, because then socks become quite ineffective. (Unfortunately I've met people, even some girls back in high school, who seemed to own only one pair of shoes.)

What I've realized is that the more time I spend barefoot, the fewer side effects (in terms of sweating and so on) I get when I wear shoes, so that I can actually be sockless without trouble. Of course, in the summer I barely ever wear closed shoes, so the side effects are still minimal.

 

There's a thought.......
I haven't worn socks for a year, and I'm barefoot pretty much every day other than work. I have no sweating problems "down there" (although my emotional program has kept me pretty liquid "up there.")
Maybe going sockless/barefoot IS a good deal. Now if I can just solve the problem NORTH of the (um) equator........

 

qft

 

How about a scaremongering campaign to make everyone terrified of the health effects of wearing shoes of any kind. Then follow it up with a money making scam for foot-health products and bingo! Perhaps you could stretch it further by making foot tattoos, anklets, toe rings etc. really fashionable and introduce a designer label element and then you have a real rival to shoe brands.

Obviously I don't have the business or P.R. head to implement this idea, but anyone who does is free to use it without even asking me for permission.

 

I like the idea. But that would be a HUGE undertaking.

I think any woman who's ever carried her shoes home from the dance club realizes there is some inherent harm in wearing shoes. This wouldn't really be news. It seems that people, women especially, just accept the fact that shoes are harmful, yet they continue wearing them. They even have surgeries now to correct the problems associated with long-term high-heeled shoe-wearing. And surgeries to modify your feet to fit into certain shoes. Which creates just more people who stand to lose if people give up shoes.

It's true, Americans are used to being told what to do. If advertisers and the media began telling them to go barefoot, they would. But, again, there is the problem of money. Maybe 1-in-50 people wears a toe ring. A few more have foot tattoos, but I can't see any tattoo parlor launching a nationwide media campaign to convice people that shoes are stupid.

I like the idea of a brand name and products, though. That definitely has some merit.

Now, you've got me thinking...

 

Michelangelo Buonarroti said «What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe?» but until the human foot is for free and the shoe remains expensive, being shoeless shall always be considered as lowbrow, homeless and trashy.

only money, the exhibition of power and the acceptance of the whole set of rules including unwritten ones (like the one that prescribes everyone to wear shoes) matter in most societies and that thing's not going to change soon.

but found a religion that requires bare feet and you have made a giant step forward in general bare feet acceptance since people seems more prone to give you credit if you think you believe in (<put here your favorite religious nonsense>) than if you tell them that unshod feels better.

 

You may be onto something there. What if you had to pay for a licence to go barefoot. A licence more expensive than most shoes. People would suddenly place value on it, and it would be a sign of wealth to go barefoot. You might even get a counterfeit licence scam going so that chavs could make it look as though they could afford it.

Then you'd get other people campaigning for the right to go barefoot and protesting against the licence. Next thing you know everyone wants to do it purely for the sake of proving that they should have the right to do it. Then all of a sudden you've got lots of people realising that it IS a desirable thing.

I know for a fact that I haven't been reading too much Orwell, so this must have come from my manipulative ex and manipulative sister influencing me too far.

 

I hate that excuse (nothing personal, really). People are always asking me when I walk around the city barefoot, "Aren't you afraid you'll step on something?!" They sound so frightened of it, but in reality, I've stepped on things many times--I've stepped on nails, broken glass, etc, but I've yet to have something actually pierce my skin. I walk barefoot all the time, and it's conditioned my feet. That'll naturally happen, so, no, I'm not freaking afraid I'll step on something.

So.... yeah... that was a step out of the current conversation. Carry on.

 

QFT

Since I'm older, otherwise dress fairly well and carry myself with confidence, I get away with bare feet more often that a younger or (evidently) poorer person might.

How you carry yourself also makes a difference. Someone who does not make eye contact, does not speak directly and shuffles along with bent shoulders is far more likely to be singled out for persecution for their bare feet.

 

Yes, it's vital not to be self-conscious about going barefoot.

 

Contemplating this thread made me think of renting a limo with 3-4 gorilla types in black suits, shades and wired earplugs. Put on an Armani suit, a Rolex etc.., and show up barefoot with reservations made by a "secretary" at the high-end joint of your choice, entourage of goons in tow. Then watch the reactions of the Maître d' as you walk in like you owned the place.

Limo: $500
Goons: $3000
Suit: $2500
Rolex: $800

Watching the Maître d' have an apoplexy: priceless

 

Priceless, surely. But at the same time, anyone who shows up with that kind of entourage will most certainly branded as a VIP. And we all know that VIPs can get away with being barefoot (there should be a list of those who do in the forums). Hence, I'm thinking the maître d' would behave accordingly.

 

Perhaps, but never underestimate the power of peculiar provincial puerile podiatry paranoia...

The example was just a bit of over-the-top hyperbole to help illustrate jagerhans earlier very well-made point...

 

I totally agree. Being shy, self-conscious, staring down, etc. seems to be the formula for being harassed when you're barefoot in public locations. I make it a point to go to the other extreme. I don't take shoes with me when I go out (i.e., no "safety net"). I walk into establishments as if I'm completely unaware I'm barefoot (although I'm enjoying the feelings under my toes the whole time!!). I'm not shy about going up to to sales people to ask for assistance. Basically, it's all "business as usual" except that I'm not wearing shoes. My apparent lack of awareness about my bare feet seems to avert confrontation.

To another point, being a bit older does work in my favor. I think people are more reluctant to chastise an experienced adult than an adolescent. I agree that being better dressed would also be a plus. Personally, I've comfortable in my t-shirts and shorts, so I can't say that I practice that recommendation, except that my shorts are nicer, hemmed styles (versus cutoffs) and my shirts aren't battered or tattered.

 

Do it without the flip flops, man! Your feet are probably getting tough enough to withstand the glass and construction.

 

Ants? I say if you find ants just walk past them.