SHOES ARE A SCAM
- Madhukar Dama
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
HOW THE FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY WEAKENS YOU TO PROFIT FROM YOUR PAIN
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🪨 INTRODUCTION: THE MYTH YOU WALK ON
Shoes are sold as protection.
Shoes are sold as health.
Shoes are sold as performance.
But here is the truth: they’re sold to weaken you — and then sell you the solutions.
This isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s evolutionary science, anthropology, orthopedics, and economics — all pointing to one painful fact:
> “Natural gait is biomechanically impossible for any shoe-wearing person.”
– Dr. William A. Rossi, podiatrist, footwear researcher
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🧠 SECTION 1: THE BODY WAS NEVER BROKEN
✅ Your Feet Are Not Fragile
Human feet evolved over millions of years to walk, run, climb, and survive barefoot on every terrain — from hot desert to jagged stone.
You are born with 26 bones, 33 joints, 100+ muscles/tendons/ligaments — a spring-loaded miracle.
Your arches, toes, and heel are designed to distribute shock naturally.
Nerves in the sole continuously send feedback to your brain — adjusting posture, balance, and gait.
> Shoes interrupt this intelligence.
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👟 SECTION 2: HOW SHOES SCAM YOU
🔩 1. They Deform Your Structure
Pointed toes, raised heels, and rigid soles change how you walk.
Most modern shoes force your feet into unnatural shapes — leading to:
Flat feet
Bunions
Plantar fasciitis
Knee, hip, and back pain
Study: Dr. Hoffmann (1905) found that barefoot tribal populations had naturally aligned feet, while shoe-wearers had structural deformities.
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💥 2. They Block Natural Shock Absorption
Running barefoot? Your forefoot lands first, reducing impact.
Wearing shoes? Most runners heel-strike, sending shockwaves up the body.
Study: Lieberman et al. (Nature, 2010)
> Barefoot runners generate three times less collision force than shod runners.
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🧃 3. They Disconnect You from Sensory Feedback
Shoes act like numbing agents — blocking the thousands of receptors in your soles.
Your body can’t adjust posture properly, leading to fatigue and misalignment.
Balance, coordination, and even brain development in children suffer due to this disconnection.
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🪤 4. They Create a Chain of Dependency
Weak feet → Orthotics
Pain → Painkillers
More pain → Surgery
Collapse → “Special” shoes
It’s a loop of profit, not healing.
Study: Razeghi & Batt (2002):
> “Orthotics do not correct abnormalities — they merely accommodate them.”
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💰 SECTION 3: FOLLOW THE MONEY
📈 Shoe Industry:
Worth over $400 billion globally
New lines every year: “stability”, “motion control”, “impact gel”, “heel cradles”
You’re told your foot is flawed. They have the fix — for ₹7,000–₹30,000
🦶 Medical Industry:
Surgeries, braces, postural therapy — all to fix problems shoes caused
Even pediatrics pushes arch inserts for toddlers
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🌏 SECTION 4: WHO PROVED IT? WHO LIVES DIFFERENTLY?
👣 Indigenous Wisdom:
Tarahumara Tribe (Mexico): Run 100+ km in thin huaraches or barefoot — injury-free
Daasanach and Hadza Tribes (Africa): Healthy joints, perfect posture, no shoes
> The less they wear, the stronger their feet.
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👨🔬 MODERN RESEARCHERS & BAREFOOT ADVOCATES
1. Dr. Daniel Lieberman (Harvard) – Proved that barefoot running reduces collision forces and injuries compared to running in cushioned shoes.
2. Dr. William Rossi – Podiatrist who famously declared that natural gait is impossible in modern shoes; highlighted how shoes deform feet.
3. Dr. Irene Davis (Harvard Medical School) – Leads research on foot biomechanics and advocates transitioning to barefoot for long-term foot health.
4. Christopher McDougall – Author of Born to Run, which documented the injury-free barefoot running culture of the Tarahumara tribe.
5. Dr. Mark Cucuzzella – Physician and marathon runner who promotes barefoot and minimalist running as a path to natural healing.
6. Robbins & Hanna (1987) – Their study showed that cushioned shoes actually increase injury rates rather than prevent them.
7. Vivobarefoot Foundation – Funds global research on natural movement and educates people about the dangers of conventional footwear.
8. Dr. Hoffmann (1905) – Early photographic and anatomical researcher who proved that only shoe-wearing populations develop foot deformities.
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⚙ SECTION 5: HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Colonialism & Industrialization: Foot binding, stiff boots, and narrow fashion were markers of “civilized” identity.
Post-WWII: Marketing took over — athletes, fashion, orthopedics all joined hands.
Modern Urban Fear: Glass shards, hygiene, and “performance” myths keep people scared of the ground.
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🏃♀️ SECTION 6: TRANSITIONING OUT OF THE SCAM
🔄 Don’t Throw Shoes Overnight
Start slow:
1. Go barefoot at home
2. Walk on safe natural surfaces (grass, mud, sand)
3. Use minimal footwear: flat, flexible, wide-toe sandals (Kolhapuri chappals > Adidas)
4. Strengthen your feet: Toe spreading, balance drills, towel-scrunching
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🚨 BONUS: RED FLAGS TO AVOID
Arch support shoes for kids
Memory foam soles
High heel drop (running shoes)
Stiff, curved soles
“Corrective” shoes for infants
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🧾 REFERENCES
1. Lieberman DE et al. Nature, 2010
2. Razeghi M, Batt ME. J Foot Ankle Surg, 2002
3. Robbins SE, Hanna AM. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 1987
4. Hoffmann P. The Human Foot, 1905
5. Kerrigan DC et al. PM&R, 2009
6. Davis IS. Footwear Science, various papers
7. Cucuzzella M. Run for Your Life, 2018
8. McDougall C. Born to Run, 2009
9. Vivobarefoot Foundation research archives
10. University of Calgary Human Performance Lab
11. Rossi WA. "Why Shoes Make ‘Normal’ Gait Impossible", Podiatry Management, 1999
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🧨 CONCLUSION: YOU PAY TO BE DISABLED
The barefoot child stands taller, freer, and healthier than the adult who wears a ₹20,000 “corrective” shoe.
Shoes, like many modern products, destroy the natural — and sell you the synthetic in return.
You weren’t born broken.
But if you don’t stop now, the industry will keep breaking you bit by bit — and selling you the crutch.
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SHOES ARE A SCAM
(gritty, slow, unforgiving, and real — just like the pain shoes pretend to solve)
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they sold me rubber
they sold me leather
they sold me the arch of a lie
and called it comfort.
I was four
barefoot on the red sand,
running like an animal —
toes grabbing the earth,
lungs wide, spine alive,
until a grown-up
stuffed my freedom into a branded coffin
and tied a knot on it.
“support,” they said.
“protection,” they said.
but the only thing it protected
was their quarterly profits.
I remember
my mother whispering,
“new shoes will make you run faster.”
and I believed her
like I believed in Santa
like I believed in school
like I believed in love.
then came the years
of tightness, fungus,
flat arches, curved toes,
heel pain, spine pain,
insoles, orthotics, surgery
then back to the store
for the next upgrade of failure.
they made my feet stupid.
numb.
compliant.
like my heart.
like my mind in the office.
like my soul on a salary.
and when I sat
on the doctor’s bench,
he looked me in the eye
and said,
“you need support.”
goddamn right I do —
but not from foam.
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I walked barefoot one day,
just to see what the world felt like
beneath all this rubber religion.
the rocks bit me
the thorns kissed me
the ants didn’t move
but my feet remembered
they were born wild.
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I looked down at my calluses
and they looked back
like old friends
returning from the war.
they say a man should
stand on his own two feet.
but no one tells you
those feet are crippled
from the shoes you bought
with your own paycheck
to impress people
just as crippled.
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I met a child
who had never worn shoes.
his gait was proud.
his eyes clear.
his soles blackened with truth.
he didn’t speak English,
but his steps
taught me more than
fifteen years of school.
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shoes are the collar.
shoes are the leash.
shoes are the stitch
in a suit of restraint
you were told was respectable.
a barefoot man
may not be rich,
but he knows what the earth feels like.
he knows how it bites,
how it hums,
how it forgives.
and he doesn't need
a receipt for that.
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