People are smart, society isn’t.

I look on with some despair at events in the world in recent years and I wonder how so many people can get it so wrong.

People seem to be choosing to be manipulated and taken advantage of. There seems to be no point at which people stop and hold our corporate or civic leaders to account.

So you were wrong about the projected outcomes of growth and efficiency, and now thousands of job losses are on the cards. Oh well, c’est la vie.

You told us that removing service staff, checkout operators and bank tellers would make dealing with you much more efficient. How are your profits going? Record-breaking? That’s wonderful for you.

So you lied about the affairs and hush payments and made numerous demonstrably false claims, behaviours that might exclude you from any role in public office. No foul, here is the Presidency.

Like the metaphor of the frog in a pot slowly getting warmer, people seem to be accepting, or if not accepting then perhaps tolerant, of small changes that appear on the surface to have little impact.

Once the water is too hot for comfort, there is no use complaining as you didn’t say anything about all the changes we made to get to this point. Perhaps you didn’t agree, but you did nothing.

Some of us may have vocalised words of caution, but many might ask what a handful of people can do against a corporate behemoth or a municipal authority. The decision may have been made by the organisation leaders in advance and the marketing department is simply selling us the lie in a more palatable form.

However, people are smart. Individuals can see through the bullshit and make reasoned decisions for themselves.

Talk to someone one-on-one about naturism and many would agree that the ideals of the philosophy are sound.

Most would argue that using 1,700 litres of water to produce a t-shirt or 10,000 litres of water to make a pair of jeans is unsustainable. Many may be unaware that most of the clothing we put in recycling bins, which we are told is the responsible thing to do, ends up in landfills in Ghana or Chile.

Most people would argue that society has an issue with body image. Many would agree that body shame is a learned behaviour and that advertisers play on the fears that we have, fears that they are often guilty of creating.

Not many people would argue that a world where body shaming is common is a better place than a world where body shame is all but non-existent

Individuals are capable of reasoned discussion and of accepting that while naturism might not be for them, it can be a valid and ecologically responsible choice for people to make.

Society on the other hand seems incapable of reasoned judgement. Society is unable to explain why it sees nothing wrong with a male nipple being exposed in public, and yet show a female nipple and the very fabric of our existence seems to be in peril.

Many have experienced the freedom of skinny dipping and can see the logical argument that swimwear is pointless. It is often less comfortable, it is proven to be less hygienic, and it arguably adds little or no modesty, especially when wet.

Despite these valid reasons for its abolition, trying to get councils and local authorities to give people the choice to swim naked at public pools would be a non-starter. For society, nudity is so offensive that it outweighs all the other health and well-being benefits of a swimwear-optional rule change.

Perhaps society is simply an unwilling pawn in all of this and is being manipulated by advertisers and vested interests. In trying to appease these interests it ends up supporting and protecting the businesses and organisations that want to sell us products, strip the planet of its resources and increase our insecurities.

So you want to live a better life? A healthier life? A life where you matter as an individual, where you are a valuable part of a community? Do you want to live in a way that reduces our impact on the planet? Do you want to live in a way that improves your self-esteem and where you are judged by your actions and words rather than how you look?

Most people would agree with those ideals.

Embracing a naturist philosophy ticks so many of those boxes, but society has other plans. Naturism does not require you to wear clothes all the time, and society can’t cope with that. All the positive benefits of the naturist philosophy are irrelevant because someone might see a female nipple or a penis.

Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps people aren’t all that smart. After all, it seems that people would rather consume to extinction than give up the shiny things and save the planet.

How’s the temperature in the pot, Kermit?

We had a chance to change the world and opted for the Home Shopping Network instead - Stephen King

Thank you for reading. Have a comfortable day.