Taken from the ‘given up on washing’ thread - was that a spin-off from this?
.......
One might think that, for instance, that a hot and humid climate would logically result in people wearing next to nothing in the way of clothing. But that is not the case and seems to be limited to only what might be called primitive cultures. The only two examples I can think of are those who live in the Amazon area (who developers have been trying to eradicate, same as we did with the Indians) and in Borneo. Others, though, manage with thin clothing and apparently do not suffer for it. It's worth mentioning that a hot and humid climate (or hot and dry) can have cold weather, too. At any rate, people have been living in all climates since prehistory and thriving, too.
People do not appear to suffer from wearing clothes in a hot climate because they have become so disconnected from the environment. I think people frequently feel uncomfortable wearing clothes in hot environments, but they are more uncomfortable about the prospect of being naked with prevailing attitudes, so much so that many just accept the discomfort as something unavoidable, much as the Yarg people of Tierra del Fuego accepted the cold of their environment without clothes. The ‘Fuego’ name referred to the many fires on the beaches that they used to keep warm. In this case, a kidnapped Yarg man readily jumped ship from the Beagle to return to live with his naked people rather than live a civilised live, which he had been introduced to in England. Still, Darwin considered them ‘the most miserable people on earth’ - not that he was prejudiced or anything......
People may be able fo wear clothes in a hot climate, and clothes may give (mostly immigrant descended) people of light skin colour necessary protection from the tropical sun, but the discomfort of wearing clothing is only one issue.
There are health issues from wearing clothing, fungal, bacteral and smell issues, especially without regular washing.
But primarily, clothing is unsustainable. How much time do we (or non-naturists) have to work to pay for clothing worn when not required for warmth and protection? How much more costly would it be for that clothing to be sustainable? Is it even possible? Plastic (oil/chemical) derived clothing is inherently unsustainable. Cotton clothing is probably no better because of the unsustainable way that it is grown - the chemical drenched, dried up Aral sea being the most obvious result.
There are more sustainable materials we can use for clothing, but most clothing is made in sweat shops in Asia to keep the price down. So ethically, we should be paying much more for our clothing. At the prices we should be paying for clothes, it makes no sense to be wearing things we don’t need.
The immediate perceived harm from wearing clothing in a warm environment is relatively slight but the real cost in damage to the environment is massive, never mind the psychological effects resulting from the banishment of the normal naked body from society.
In nature, resources are not squandered without benefit. Growing a bright colourful tale is very expensive for various male exotic birds, but it has an evolutionary advantage, displaying affectively the health and vigour of the mate to its female partner. Such features have developed and survived over hundreds of thousands and millions of years.
Mankind’s unsustainable lifestyle has to change very rapidly, or face collapse during this century. Clothing is one major contributer. It doesn’t too matter how that change is effected but, one way or another, the price we pay for clothing (and other consumables) needs to reflect the costs on the environment. The cost of wearing clothes in a warm climate is more than just a little discomfort.
