flip flops and bare feet

My friends know that I just love flip flops, and I love to be barefoot. I run around the house in bare feet all the time, and sometimes I run around outside barefoot. When I was in college, sometimes I would even go to class barefoot.

Sometimes I come across a story like this one, saying that flip flops are hazardous to your health. Every now and then I will even come across a story saying that being barefoot is hazardous to your health. Usually these stories will talk about how running around barefoot or in shoes without adequate support will cause spinal and other musculoskeletal problems.

I find this to be odd. I suppose they've got some kind of scientific support for their claims, but I always wonder, if that's true, how did people get along before shoes? I was born without shoes and I'll probably die without shoes. Why are shoes so essential in the meantime?