Change, fashion and mass production

The picture here (by Terres) is merely a suggestion of the kind of applique that a Syai individual might attach to his or her standard mass-produced robe. Everyone has their own design, and some like this one might use the insect-emblem of the Syai Empire, an insect most similar to our dragonfly.

"Fashion" and its rapid changes and the way it is exploited is part of our civilization's ills. We on Earth are in a period where everything is moving too fast!  That includes the pace of economic, technological and electronic change, while some "human" changes are not happening fast enough. It is not so much the lagging-behind old but the young that we should worry about. Children weren't designed to grow up in a whirling current of change, pushed from outside themselves to compete and keep up or outstrip "the Joneses" children. 

Everyone wants to express their individuality and uniqueness, even if it is very much within a tight group or culture. But they don't necessarily want to do it through being fashionable or famous. One does not need to be successful. It often seems that parents, teachers and students are desperate for success!  The simple truth, however, is that success and achievement (within the present socio-economic, political and educational system) is weightedly relative. By that I mean, that the person striving for success only reaches that state at the disadvantage and weighty mass of the many other persons who do not reach any such state, not matter how hard they strive. G&S in light opera says: "When everybody's somebody, nobody's anybody."  For the maximization of general happiness, I would propose that first of all we all just work on finding ourselves as a "somebody" according to our own lights 

How Syai society looks at all this has something to do with how the Syai people dress. 'Fancy fashion' is shown in the applique that is the size of one's hand sewn on the front of the mass-produced robe (sized for the individual). One has a robe for the wind and cold, and apart from that one wears close-fitting comfortable stretchy clothes to suit various purposes in various locations.  

Almost everything in the Syai civilization is mass-produced, excluding what nature produces from soil, water and sunshine. The caravan-cottage that every adult has is the same design for everyone, with its components mass-produced and put together the same way. This has enormous benefits in eliminating waste and inefficiency caused by duplication of effort and constant change to keep up with fashion and fancy demands. Nevertheless, it means that change in the Syai world is very slow.  Innovation is not hastened by war. But if research indicates that a change would be beneficial to all, a big change and adjustment can happen, expensive though it might be in energies and resources to bring it about. Engines that run on liquid fuel have a long-term life in the Syai world, because it is hard to beat the convenience of that kind of fuel. Our Earth society may have appeared to change that kind of motor vehicle frequently, but really it is mostly fashion changes and very gradual slight improvements in engine efficiency. The internal combustion engine still pollutes our environment and causes wars over "black gold".