I'm getting trendier by the day

Well, better late than never I guess. I've finally joined the ranks of the shoe minimalists and purchased a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves. In case you were wondering what my pair looked like, and you are incapable of using Google, then here is a picture:

MIND BLOWING!!!

Over the last many years I've been torturing myself and atrophying my feet/calf muscles with horrid running shoes that would normally have around a 9mm slope from heel to toe. My last pair being the awful Nike Sparq Trainers with the equally awful shock technology. They were great for standing around in and all the fly honeys came flockin', but they simply weren't functional, per se, when it came to actual training. By now I'm sure you've already been beaten down with information "provided" to you by barefoot running proponents (see how I was nice about that and didn't take the easy way out by calling them nazis?) so I won't touch on that fully.

Instead let me just say that, contrary to popular internet belief, these shoes are not for everyone. GASP. Not everyone can make this transition. That could be in part due to a person's genetic makeup, or the fact that you actually need to condition your feet and ankles to take on the added stress which shoes-of-today unfortunately eliminate.Whoa heyooo so stress is good? Absolutely. How else are you going to strengthen that area? 1,000,000 calf raises? No thanks. It's unfortunate that many minimalist/barefoot running proponents are so cemented in with their beliefs that they don't leave room for any excuses for someone explaining why minimalist shoes do not work for them.

"BUT THE TARAHUMARA TRIBE HAS BEEN DOING IT FOR CENTURIES!!!! IT'S SO PALEO, NOT-BRO!"

Well, fictional shouting person whom I created and am now addressing, I would imagine that most Americans haven't been barefoot running for centuries. I know, I'm out on a precarious limb. I'll let the logical side of your brains take over and figure out what I mean by that. Technology, in most instances, serves to better our lives. How do we know that many of the Tarahumara tribe didn't and don't suffer from foot ailments which could have been corrected with appropriate footwear?

HMMM?