What Would It Take for a Truly Ethical Clothing Industry?

I was able to empathise with the man and amazement at the depth of his self-importance after watching him speak at TED. Most of the journalists I know have either predicted the end of the internet or insisted that nobody cares about it except journalists since his purchase of Twitter. If you are not a journalist, please help me out here. Please give your opinion in the comments. The update is here.

She inside.

Most people are happy to blame the platforms when misinformation is spread on social media. Is that toxic stuff posted by the users? They are being manipulated by a program. Do you still think that when the platform is a giant online clothing retailer, the incentive is ultralow prices, and the environmental impact of kilotons of disposable clothing, do you still think that?

That is an implicit question in Vauhini Vara's profile of Shein, the Chinese ultrafast-fashion retailer. If you don't have teenage kids, Shein is the most popular online store among American teens. It featured 1.3 million separate clothing designs in one year, 50 to 100 times as many as other fast-fashion rivals. Vauhini's story is a laundry list of slapdash business practices you might expect from a cheap clothing retailer, but she points out that growing attention forces Shein to change.

At WIRED, we have a central motivating question: What does it take to bring about positive change? The food industry has spawned entire sub-industries that cater to consumers with ethical and environmental concerns. I guess the first thing we need is a word for someone with an ethics of clothing consumption: sustainitarian? Please make suggestions in the comments. If more people shopped more ethically, they could encourage some clothing makers to use less synthetic and toxic materials and more recycled and upcycled ones. You could rent your clothes instead of storing them in your closet.

The incentives to feed as many people as cheaply and profitably as possible are the same as those of the vegan and foragers in the world. It will take governments to declare cheap threads a public health hazard.

Beyond the Web3 Bubble.

In a WIRED staff meeting a few months ago, I asked if we could write a guide to the new technology. You all want to know, judging by your comments on my last post.

Over the past few months, I've been asking this question to every Web3 booster and venture capitalist I've met. I've spoken to some very smart people who can't think of a single thing to do with aBlockchain that can be done more simply and easily with something else. The most convincing answer I've been able to get is that the technology of Web3 is less important than the movement, because of the interest in new models of decisionmaking, ownership, and social organization that will have lasting repercussions even if the technology is not important. Maybe I buy. At least find something interesting.