Saving The World One Pair of Underpants at a Time

One of the exciting organizations I have had the opportunity to work with since starting at Rag Tag n Textile has been the Social Enterprise Academy.  I have had the pleasure of attending various courses at the academy, learning from their inspiring and vastly experienced tutors. Each course allows me to increase (my now extensive) collection of Academy ring binders.  In the top right hand corner of each folder, alongside the academies logo, sits an intimidating mantra: ‘

‘Learning to Change the world’

Over the next couple of blog posts I am going to attempt to bring, with a combination of informed cynicism and romantic triumphalism, some of my thoughts on ‘changing the world’.  I don’t pretend to have any wisdom to share, these are simply my meanderings and reflections, from spending the last 6 months working with and for, various Social Enterprises; and hearing their stories, as they attempt to effect positive change in the world.

So

Part 1

Changing the world one pair of underpants at a time.

I recently went to see The Avengers, the latest Hollywood installment of the marvel franchise, starring a group of superhero protagonists attempting to save the world.  While watching this film I became acutely aware of how many of these Superheroes wore their underpants on the exterior of their clothing.  Counting the majority of the Avengers League, Superman, Batman, Wolverine (the list goes on), it seems the majority of people tasked with saving our universe, appear to wear their underpants on the outside of their trousers.  

Anyway… as the movie progressed and my concentration faltered, I began to obsess over the content of Captain America’s underpants (hold on!)

Were they made in china? Was the cotton sourced from fair-trade farmers?  Was any child labour exploited in the making of captain America’s briefs? Is the manufacturing company ethically active?

Captain America; what a hypocrite, gallivanting about, saving the world while continuing to corrupt it with your underwear, which you don’t even have the decency to wear underneath your trousers.

Not many consumers care to dwell on where their underpants have come from, let alone, Captains Americas.  I don’t necessarily propose they do; so arcane are the operations around the manufacture of our material goods, even if one did, no single person could ever hope to grasp more than a fragment of this information.

If the fate of the universe depends on our ability to navigate through the minefield of globalized mass production and its destructive tendencies; not only of our underwear, but everything we consume, the crippling scale of the task seems immediately debilitating.

So while I have no idea how to change the world I suppose the challenge to myself is not allow the business of life and scale of the task, to force me into indifference. 

My current postulation:

Find one thing (to begin with) that fosters an element of intentional positive change and get on with it.  For the World is not saved in grand gestures made by those jaunting around with inverted underpants, but a group of intentional bloody minded people making there own underpants (or sunhats)

Rag Tag 'n' Textile Ltd is a registered charity (SC 037619) working with people who are recovering from mental health problems. Based in Skye and Wester Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland, we are a social enterprise making handcrafted items from recycled textiles.  If you are interested in learning to sew (your own underpants) our sewing classes will be re-launching next Wednesday (23^rd May) at the Broadford Workshop from 6.  For more info or to book a place please email us info@ragtagntextile.org.uk)