The most important part of society is the knowledge base.  Ideas swirl amongst the population that leads to roads, irrigation, sun screen, and so on and so on.  With ideas, comes production, and with production, comes Products, followed by its tag team partner Services.  All are important, and all help the society roll down the road.

I like to argue that the second most important part of society is satire.  Many have disagreed with me, but I think I make a decent case for the cause.  My argument is simplistic in its nature. If we take ourselves too seriously, we lose track of the simple solution, aka, Occam’s razor.  The ability to step back and think, “Oh man, this is ridiculous!” is such a grounding reflection.  Couldn’t that notion be useful these days?

My favorite satiric piece is the fantastic Stanley Kubrick film, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.  In this movie, the threat of nuclear war is diagnosed as a mere consequence of people in the military having entirely too much time on their hands.  Due to boredom, and lack of anything substantial to do, they misinterpret a couple of messages.  Next thing you know, Slim Pickens is riding the nuclear warhead down to earth with an enthusiasm that rivals Dick Vitale’s love for basketball.  This climatic moment is both terrifying and brilliant.  Could people, taking themselves, and their jobs, entirely too serious become so delusional that their actions cause such a devastating disaster?

Throughout the film, there are many chances for the heroes to reverse the course, but every opportunity is thwarted and every counter measure flawed.  With the crusade to save themselves from embarrassment, or worse, the fear of being deemed unimportant and replaceable, and lastly their physical demise, they march forward toward their destiny.  It’s cringe worthy, scary and hilarious all at once.  The lunacy summed up fondly for me in a line…

President Merkin Muffley – “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here!  This is the War Room!”

Now, making a great leap, I can tell you that this thought process is mimicked in the shoe world as well.  The hype from shoe companies has been on constant barrage since I was child.  I can remember going to a shoe store, yes before the glorious online buying revolution of the late 90’s,  and having a clerk there explain to me that my shoe needs to provide support while keeping my toes secure.  Aren’t my toes there for a reason?

Shoe Salesman – “Son, you don’t run using your toes! You run with your Feet!”

Shoe companies have been pummeling us with advertisements about the need for cushion, support, and design, for almost two decades now.  They use athletes to prove that their product is worth the expense, as if the only reason these people made it to the top was their shoes with the major cushion.  The price is outrageous, the shoe bricks our feet, and the amount of injuries pile up, and still the companies march on with their campaigns.  It’s as if they are afraid of embarrassment, or worse, deemed unimportant and replaceable.

Well, I didn’t want to ride the warhead to the ground like Slim.  I wanted to be able to enjoy running, and do it well into my 60’s.  I started to see the parallels of the satire and the real world.  I decided to step back and say, “Man, this IS ridiculous!”  I got a book written by a man named McDougall and bought some unique shoes from a company called Vibram.  On the second day after the purchase, I jogged down the street in footwear that every single person in my athletic circle would have screamed at me to never use.  I jogged down the street with a smile on my face…and never looked back.

“We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when.  But we’ll meet again, some sunny day……”