Basically one theory (there are conflicting ones) is that Halloween itself was a Christian invention meant to coopt the already-existing Samhain celebration. In that sense, it was Christian. But we’re talking about stuff that happened well over a thousand years ago so it’s hard to be sure how much of the holiday was Christian, how much was Pagan, and how much was just secular folk customs.
You’re half right. They are discarded clothes, but it isn’t quite as desperate as picking them out of landfills. For the most part they are clothes that are donated to thrift stores in the US, but aren’t good enough condition to be resold here, and so are smuggled south across the border to be resold there.
Thank you for this bit of ignorance fighting (even here in the Pit, where the fighting of ignorance isn’t particularly a thang ). Now I wonder: What should we better-off Mericans think about this?
Are we (collective “we”) doing good by sending our un-sellable used clothing to dirt-poor people who can’t afford a pair of used shoelaces let alone shoes? (Have I used “let alone” properly there?) Or is this patronizing and insulting to the poorest people of Latin America? What does The Dope think?
I remember reading something once about all of the used clothing that ends up in Africa. The gist of the article was that it depresses the market for locally designed and produced clothing.
The article that @Buck_Godot linked above says this also about the used clothing being smuggled into Mexico. That’s specifically why it’s illegal, and thus why it has to be smuggled in. But it’s less clear if this has anything to do with benefitting the poor people there. It was more to do with pressure from the Mexican textile industry.
Maybe this deserves its own topic…
But used clothing is a big problem, and not just in poor countries…
Secondhand clothes that don’t sell in the US or go into textile recycling are often exported. Roughly 700,000 tons of used clothing gets sent to other countries annually, reportedly creating a big market and contributing to job growth. But it’s highly contested whether the impacts of this trade on local economies yields beneficial or harmful results. The sheer volume of exported clothing has suppressed local clothing industries and developed an increased reliance on other countries. It’s estimated the cost of a secondhand garment is as low as five percent the cost of a new garment made in Kenya, meaning local industries are unable to compete with the influx of cheap, used clothing.
All I know is, on our first trip to Japan, my kid and I decided to explore the alleyways near our hotel after midnight. It was so cool, so lit up it looked like Vegas, with dozens and dozens of hastily-assembled booths full of fun stuff.
A number of them were selling overruns of t-shirts with graphics like “Kalamazoo Reptile & Exotic Pet Expo, October 21-24, County Park Expo Center” or “David Henry Hickman High School, Columbia, Missouri, Home of the Hickman Fightin’ Kewpie Dolls”.
Boring back home, but exotic there…
Oh, and some we really didn’t understand: “What happens if you eat letterbox hair?” Oh, I found that one.
“A private school in Miami, Florida, is requiring students who get vaccinated to quarantine at home for 30 days after each dose.”
“Because of the potential impact on other students and our school community, vaccinated students will need to stay at home for 30 days post-vaccination for each dose and booster they receive and may return to school after 30 days as long as the student is healthy and symptom-free,” a letter sent out to parents of students at the Centner Academy says, according to local news outlet WSVN."
OK, I seem to recall this school being in the news recently for some other idiotic fucking thing, but I can’t remember what that was.