Things that work

Imagine if peace were as ubiquitous as flip flops?

Flip flops are my footwear of choice, maybe yours as well. Simple, easy to put on, comfortable and easy to care for. What’s not to like? Perhaps you even wear them to make some form of sartorial statement.

How about wearing flip flops to make a political statement, and maybe even help change the focus in war zones from conflict to prosperity?

“we were going to take military capacity that was established to manufacture tools for war, and we were going to manufacture commercial products for peace. And then we were going to ship them all over the world and help a whole bunch of people along the way. -Matt “Griff” Griffin

Let me introduce you to Combat Flip Flops and the Unarmed Forces.

“Each day brings tragic events. Decades of radicalism fueled by ignorance create indifference and helplessness. The cycle of violence and injustice continues. As humans, we should have figured this out by now. Can it change?

We felt the same way too.  Asked the same question.  As business leaders, we listened to the rhetoric, and saw the hypocrisy.  As special operations veterans, we ‘defended our freedom,’ and discovered the wars went against everything we hoped for. Through understanding and compassion, we found a new path forward–a mechanism of change.”

It started when I read about them somewhere online. As a veteran, reading about a veteran-owned business caught my attention. Vet’s make flops, I’m in. So, I order a pair of Floperators. They are adorned with this credo: “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”

As a veteran, I have been asked: “what do you think about war?” I respond with “what do you think about cancer?” Now here is a company making flip flops, shemaghs and other cool stuff that cops to the attitude that wars are stupid.

“As a species, we have been repeating this insane habit of putting little metal projectiles into one another as a method of foreign policy because our leaders can’t figure out how to do their job. Then they sell it to us as an honorable, massive achievement after we spend trillions of dollars putting ourselves in the same position to do it all over again. Wasting human potential and natural resources through the entire process. When you say it out loud, the absurdity of war should be apparent.”

These cats articulated my worldview and even better were putting products out that walked the talk. They earned my money, and I was proud to join the Unarmed Forces.”

This winter they published Steps Ascending: Rise of the Unarmed Forces. Griffin and Lee, the authors, take you behind the scenes to tell the tale of how they used their special operations training to launch Combat Flip Flops. Even better, they help answer this question they pose in the foreword:

“What if funding for schools in the most deserving and necessary parts of the world could come directly from or be supplemented by for-profit business? What if part of that business model simultaneously activated that same underutilized workforce?”

I promise you that answer is there, and it is worth the read to discover it.

So when you see me wearing floperators or a CFF shemaugh, now you know why.