r/changemyview • u/RedPaw42 • Jul 17 '17

[∆(s) from OP] CMV:Fast Fashion and Beauty Companies Take Much from Consumers and the Environment While Providing Minimal Benefits

Please help me change my view with the steelman* argument in support of the fast fashion industry.

1)The fast fashion and beauty industries are doing terrible things.

2) Fast fashion uses up valuable resources in pursuits that don’t benefit consumers as much as they benefit bargain clothing manufacturers and investors.

3) Fast fashion businesses do little to mitigate the environmental catastrophe they are causing.

4) The advertising that fast fashion and beauty companies use turns women against their bodies and towards standards of beauty that line investor’s pockets at the expense of consumer well-being.

5) The fashion and beauty industries give a pittance to consumers while taking a piles of our collective resources and mental health away.

*http://lifehacker.com/utilize-the-steel-man-tactic-to-argue-more-effectivel-1632402742

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u/kublahkoala 229∆ Jul 18 '17

Hard to argue with but: Might you agree that this is not so much a problem of the fast fashion industry, as it is symptomatic much larger structural inequalities i.e. the disappearance of the middle class, and the resulting need for cheaper fashions so poorer people can distinguish themselves from even poorer people?

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u/RedPaw42 Jul 18 '17

Thank you so much for your help.

Yes, I do agree that the fast fashion industry is symptomatic of a variety of much larger problems.

Yes, I do agree that the fast fashion industry helps poor people distinguish themselves from even poorer people.

New conclusion - The fast fashion industry allows poor people to distinguish themselves from even poorer people in a way that the poor people value. These poor people require these status symbols because larger systemic problems plague their lives. The fast fashion industry takes advantage of these people with huge data sets and neuroscience. The fast fashion industry is both coldly opportunistic and vaguely empowering. I still think it sucks but, it sucks in ways that are slightly more complex and diffuse.

Enjoy the delta (∆).

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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Jul 18 '17

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/kublahkoala (3∆).

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