Industries that feed off each other and create their markets..
and can we break the cycle?
Two that come to mind (sorry these are a bit ranty LOL):
Feet!
We are fed the lines that we need support in our shoes, if not we go to podiatrists and they GIVE us support in our shoes. All this does is weaken the muscles in our feet rendering them useless and dependent on said support. The sad thing is they sell these 'supportive' shoes to our children and once the damage is done, they have lifelong customers! I have posted links before about this, not sure if the threads still exist.
Getting around this? Do some googling on going barefoot and keeping our children under school age out of shoes as much as possible. If they do need shoes, make sure they are wide, flat and VERY flexible. Let them develop all those intricate little muscles in their feet. This will prevent future knee & hip injuries, shin splits etc etc.. because they will learn how to walk properly. All of us growing up with stiff 'supportive' cushioning shoes aren't walking properly. We walk heel/toe in such a way that we are slamming down on our heels (cushioning doesn't help, coz it just masks it!). We should be walking much flatter footed than that. I walk much better since I've been at home with the kids and going barefoot. I used to get terrible pains from the way I walked in my work shoes.
Anyway.. without me ranting too much about it.. will just say that DH has fixed his flat feet which he was 'treated' for for many many years with insoles etc.. and would get searing pains in his feet & shins should he ever not wear shoes... by going barefoot! He put up with the pain for just a few days while his muscles strengthened and voila.. over time his feet aren't actually as flat! All this 'treatment' and 'support' had caused his arch to pretty much collapse and be weak & useless. All he needed was time to strengthen those muscles. He now has no pain in his feet or shins.
Second: Skin care!
We are sold chemical ****tails that essentially strip our skin and irritate skin conditions, which then requires us to see specialists or buy special moisturisers. Note: the glycerin which they strip out of soaps & cleansers is then used to make moisturisers.. why not leave the glycerin in the cleanser?? Coz then we'll have to buy TWO products!
Our way around it: DH makes his own soap. yes, SOAP.. the word that the skincare industry have made taboo. But handmade soaps & cleansers have no chemicals.. only nourishing natural oils. DH suffered terrible acne on his face & back, and sometimes on the back of his legs. Since using handmade soap? Nothing. He was using medicated cleansers etc etc, and all they did was dry it out so much that his skin went into overproduction mode and got over-oily and produced really bad acne. But he seriously has had no issues since getting rid of commercial chemical rubbish from his skincare routine.
So to break the cycle of endless treatments for skin problems? Fork out a little more $$ for some good natural products. If you can't pronounce the ingredients.. don't buy it. It will save a heap in medications and specialist appointments!
Anyway, that's my rant about industries that create their own market. I don't think it's ethical at all to create a problem so you can fix it.
Yes there is a need for these industries.. if there are podiatrists out there or skin care specialists.... I do think there would be cases that need special treatment and need various manmade chemicals to help get things under control.. but I still see these industries as feeding off problems that they themselves are creating.
Fast food! So little nutrition, so high in GI that it has created a market of undernourished but always hungry consumers - same goes for readymade snackfoods like chips & softdrink etc.
i totally hear you on the flat feet thing! i had orthotics for years, only to find once i left work and was a SAHM (barefoot) that my feet dramatically improved! my shin splints only play up when my feet get cold!
Some would say the entire 'convenience' products industry... labour/time saving devices and foods that are way more expensive than the original versions, thus forcing us to work longer to pay for them, thus forcing us to use convenience products!
Having said that though, I'm sure a lot of full-time workers would work that much anyway whether or not said products were available. (Yes, I have a dishwasher and washing machine!)
Wow thanks for that post...it had never occurred to me before.
My kids are 4 and 2 and unless they're at daycare or we are out shopping they never wear shoes. It's always been instinctive to me to let them go barefoot. It just seems to me that nature made our feet cope with that as kids, since we never had podiatry and Clarks shoes until the last 50 years lol.
But I'd never really thought about like that, makes perfect sense
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Industries that feed off each other and create their markets..
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