The Environmental and Human damage caused by clothing is huge and unnecissary.

[John P]

I don't see much need for using chlorine products in the home. Maybe for laundry, but my stuff seems to come out OK without it. We do have a persistent problem with mildew on our bathroom ceiling, and I use bleach to deal with that, which keeps it at bay for a year or so. But no chlorine to kill nasty germs in the kitchen; they don't seem nasty enough to be doing any harm. On the other hand, chlorine in the drinking water does keep it sterile, and that's where you'd have the most risk of harmful bacteria. If you can smell it, they've overdone the dosage. If you leave the water standing in the open for a while, the chlorine evaporates fairly quickly.

Swimming pools evidently need quite a bit more chlorine, but since they generally demand clothing in the water, you wouldn't find me there. Hey, there's cause and effect for you. Be a naturist, and you won't be exposed to much chlorine.

[BlueTrain]

I don't really use copious amount of chlorine bleach but I do use some when doing whites in the laundry and then only for the purpose of bleaching. I'm pretty sure that using hot water is just as effective in killing germs in the laundry, assuming you aren't washing diapers. In the kitchen, however, cleanliness is more important, and chlorine bleach isn't really necessary. Hot water and a good detergent/washing up liquid is sufficient. But I think some dishwasher detergents may contain a bleaching agent.

We don't have a swimming pool but I'm pretty sure the best way to keep the pool clean is to keep people out of the pool, which is much more effective than keeping clothing out of the pool.

[nuduke]

Isn't the bacterium Yersinia Pestis the cause of plague, Bob?  It still exists. I read that there are 3 forms of plague caused by this organism depending on where the bug gains entry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yersinia_pestis and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague


I'm ok with chlorine!  Smells bad but keeps the plague at bay!
Chlorine bleach is a solution of about 2% Sodium Hypochlorite which decomposes to chlorine when you expose it to stuff like dirt.  The smell of chlorine in chlorine bleach is the perfume that is added to make it smell of chlorine so users will recognise its dangers! 


John

[BlueTrain]

While a certain bacteria is the cause of the plague, the reason it spreads is because of fleas, which in turn were carried by rats. So to stop the spread, you do your best to eliminate the rats and then the fleas.

The worst diseases are those that spread easily and act quickly, especially those which can be fatal. Some spread easily but are generally not too serious, such as colds. We (my son and my wife) had a long conversation last weekend about communicable diseases and bats kept coming into the conversation. They may eat lots of insects but they have issues.

[Greenbare Woods]

Isn't the bacterium Yersinia Pestis the cause of plague, Bob?  It still exists. I read that there are 3 forms of plague caused by this organism depending on where the bug gains entry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yersinia_pestis and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague
John

The science of bacteriology wasn't invented until centuries after the end of the black plague.   Today there are certain bacteria and disease that are said to be Plague.  It is most common in New Mexico, USA, where people who have house cats tend to get it when their cat brings in a wild mouse.  But the symptoms never appeared to me to match historic stories about the Medieval Black Plague.  So maybe it is, and maybe it isn't.   In New Mexico only cat people ever got it. 

[nuduke]

I read an amazing thing the other day (and unfortunately I seem to have lost the link - I think it was a Guardian science article):  Recent archaeological finds in Europe have revealed that there appears to have been a widespread outbreak of bubonic plague somewhere in central Europe about 5,500 years ago which caused a mass migration further across Europe and particularly North.  However, this plague seems to have been spread faster and wider than previous instances and this was put down to a recent invention of the time - the wheeled cart!  It was pulled by animals and enabled people with the plague (or the rats or the fleas) to spread wider and faster than ever before.  I thought that was pretty mind boggling.  The invention of new technology always seems to have disadvantages in aspects not dreamed of by its inventors!
John

[Peter S]

The Law of Unintended Consequences - up there with Murphy’s Law and Sods’ Law as the guiding principles of life.

[BlueTrain]

Parkinson's Law seems to have had a greater influence on my life, so far, than most other laws, which is not to say it has been a guiding principle.

[jbeegoode]

I had to look up PArkinson's Law. Could clothing taking over our lives like a huge bureaucracy to the point of detriment and control and limitation of our function be a Parkinson's law example?
Jbee

[Peter S]

Think positive, JB - perhaps nudity will expand to uncover the number of people @vailable ...

[BlueTrain]

It may inhibit the northern spread of civilization.

[jbeegoode]

Think positive, JB - perhaps nudity will expand to uncover the number of people @vailable ...

Hmmmm.....! Orderly nudity...hmmm....
Nah...who needs that?

Jbee

[JOhnGw]

Complementary is a better word than alternative.   The pills and surgeons knife complement the natural lifestyle  but are there as a last resort

As one physician said to me about surgeons: "The operation was a success bu the patient died."

[BlueTrain]

Is there still room in the world for traditional holistic healing: witch doctors and medicine men?

[Greenbare Woods]

Is there still room in the world for traditional holistic healing: witch doctors and medicine men?

There are a few around, but they don't get the government sponsorship.   Not enough money in keeping people healthy.