Breaking the circuit: it's a Jayne thing

 "This extended break from shopping seemed to work as a circuit breaker, and gave me a fresh perspective." 

This quote, from a story on The Age today, perfectly sums up the effect of my own almost year-long break from shopping (28 days to go!). 

Before the ban, I was on the fast fashion treadmill and never paused to think about the ripple effects of my purchases: is the person who made it paid enough to live on (probably not)? Did the manufacturing process pollute the environment (quite likely)? What will happen to it when I get rid of it (the op shop can deal with that)? I just enjoyed the thrill of having something new to wear while ignoring the growing feeling that I was amassing a wardrobe of clothes I hardly ever wore. 

Eventually that feeling got too loud too ignore and that's when my no-shopping challenge was born. Unlike the Jayne who wrote the above article, I only started investigating the ethics of clothes shopping after I stopped shopping, whereas she kind of defaulted to not shopping because of her interest in eco-style. 

We both followed the path to the more broader minimalist movement though. Conscious consumerism and minimalism go hand in hand. (I encountered The Minimalists along the way too, but kicked them to the kerb without watching their documentary because of the odour of white male privilege emanating from some of their stuff.)

I don't know if it's just because I've been paying more attention, but it seems like more and more stories about shopping bans, ethical consumption (especially of fashion) and minimalism have been appearing in the mainstream media in the past 11 months. I have been paying more attention, but my feeling is it's the latter - conscious consumerism is so hot right now. Or at least hotter than it used to be. Maybe it's the Konmari effect. 

But while these stories are making their way into mainstream media, the movements themselves are still far from mainstream, and I doubt they ever will be because capitalism. It's all about constant growth, and not the personal kind that involves getting in touch with what we really need. 

Health isn't free, you idiots

The best things in life are, in fact, free. Love. Relationships. Health. Personal growth. Contribution. Six-pack abs.

I read this status update on The Minimalists' Facebook page last week and it made me a little cross.  

I agree with most of it, but health? Health is free? What the hell!? Health is only free if you have the good fortune to be born healthy and able-bodied, and to remain so throughout your life. I wanted to reply "PLEASE CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE!", but I refrained. 

What's particularly astounding about this assertion is that these guys live in America, where even a relatively short stint in hospital can (or could, pre-Obamacare) cause extreme financial stress or even bankrupt someone. In Australia, even with Medicare, health is most definitely NOT FREE. I went to see my GP last week and while I was waiting, I noticed a sign tacked to the reception desk advising of increased fees:

• A standard consultation of 15 minutes is now about $90, with a Medicare rebate of around $38 (I can't remember what it was before).
• A long consultation - which I'm assuming is 30 minutes long - is around $160, but I don't know if you get a larger rebate for it.
• A "prolonged consultation" - anything beyond 30 minutes, I suppose - is a whopping $215!! Again, I don't know if the Medicare rebate increases commensurately. 

These are weekday fees too - they charge even more when you go on Saturdays, which is what I usually do because my GP doesn't work on my days off, dammit. I was flabbergasted. More than $200 to see a GP! That's more than I pay for a standard consultation with my neurologist!  

To be fair, it seems the clinic my GP consults at charges well above average. It's on St Kilda Road, in an affluent area, so I guess they figure they can charge more. According to research from 2014 by the Australian Medical Association, the average cost of a GP visit was only $51, with $47 paid for by Medicare, and $5 by the patient. I can't recall the last time I paid such a small amount to visit a GP. Maybe bulk billing (where the patient has no out of pocket costs) skews the patient contribution figure? 

I have thought about changing doctors - I went to a different clinic nearby recently with bronchitis when I couldn't get in to see my regular doctor and it was quite a bit cheaper - but I've been seeing my GP for years now and continuity of care is important to me (as it is for anyone with ongoing health issues). Although she's a little eccentric, she is a good, caring doctor.   

Without spending money on shoes and clothes and not including rent and food, health costs (including pilates/yoga class fees, osteopath charges, consultation fees for my GP and specialists, and medication/supplements) are my largest expense. They might have been before my ban started too, but I never kept track of my outlay on clothes etc.  

And it's not like I'm seeing my doctors weekly (or even monthly), or taking a dozen different expensive medications daily like many other people with ongoing health conditions (some cancer treatments cost THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS), so my health costs might be high as a proportion of my spending, but I'm sure they are quite low compared to what many others spend. I can imagine how these people would react if some privileged American idiot suggested to them health is free.