Hemp: the fiber of a green generation...

The threat to cotton is on the rise with a new bill introduced to the U.S. Congress legalizing the growth of industrial hemp in the United States for the first time since World War II. The bill was introduced on Thursday June 23rd, but no word as of yet as to whether it has come to a vote. This might just be the opportunity our embattled farmers and textile workers have been looking for.

Oh, but isn't hemp the same as marijuana!? No, friend, industrial hemp contains 1/3rd of 1% of the THC contained in marijuana. In other words, even if you smoked a bushel of hemp, you wouldn't get high. This stuff is the schwaggiest of the schwag, no way it could get you high. By the way, the hops that are in your beer...the plant they come from is related to the marijuana plant as well. Just thought you might like to know before you go out and get your schwagg-ass Budwiesers.

The benefits? Well, fabrics made with hemp are much stronger at manufacture than cotton fabrics, and fabrics made with hemp are more durable. In addition to fabrics, hemp can be used for a variety of other great pro-society uses like for paper, soaps, heady jewelry, ropes (most of the mooring ropes on the Navy's boats in WWII were made of hemp), etc. . Of course, not throwing out all that worn out crap will cut down on solid waste production because you won't be throwing nearly as much stuff out as often as you're used to.

The liabilities? Longer lasting materials are the bane of the corporatocracy. They're counting on you buying cheap, easily breakable stuff, so they can, in turn, sell you more useless, cheap, easily breakable stuff. You see, using long lasting mareials cuts at the profit margin two ways. First, better materials cost more money, this of course will be figured into the price of the finished product. Secondly, if people have adequate clothing that isn't worn out, then why would they bother buying the newest fashion trend from those sickenly peppy people from Old Navy, GAP, Banana Republic (all owned by the same parent company, just so you know)?