Wouldn’t care to have as friends

One of those supershort Ripley features from 1958 shows us how far we’ve gone down the road of mass hypochondria.

Intro:

In a moment I’ll tell you the fascinating story of a group of people who you wouldn’t care to have as friends.

After the pause for ad insertion:

Among the many strange religious sects of India are the holy men of the Jainist sect. They never wear shoes, nor do they eat between sunset and sunrise. They shave their hair and beard by plucking the hair out by the roots. And strangest of all is their concern about insects and germs. They never light a fire to endanger insects. They actually wear a mask over their mouth to avoid harming germs and flies.

The Jains haven’t changed. The rest of the world changed. Everyone was ordered to admire people you wouldn’t care to have as friends, and everyone was commanded to shun NORMAL HUMANS.