CONSUMPTION AND SPECIAL INTERESTS.

Last night, I was talking to my father and we both know that Australia is a country that does very little manufacturing, and it was at this point that I decided I wanted to write something about this. I remember, 26 years ago, an elderly couple were shopping in Big W and the woman of the couple was giving a cursory inspection of some shirts before dismissing them because they were made in China, and she wanted Australian made. For readers who don’t know, Big W is a discount department store, and for the prices they offered, you could not have paid an Australian worker to make a shirt that sold for $16; a Chinese worker, however, bearing in mind this was at a time when China was transitioning from a poor country to a two-speed economy, would have taken it as in China, if you didn’t work, you didn’t eat, and if you didn’t eat, you died.

For me, however, having an abiding interest in Chinese history and a special interest in Japan, my clothing selection at this time, reflected my special interest. I reflect that had I been buying clothes to actually go anywhere in the late 80s early 90s (I was basically a kid who wore their school uniform Monday to Friday and the clothes given last Christmas on Saturday and the clothes given last birthday or the Christmas before on Sunday) I would have said, as I later did, I’ll wear and Australian made shirt, underpants and socks, and Chinese made shorts, jeans or pants and shoes. And there’s nothing wrong with that. My mother was trying to get me to have a Brisbane assembled watch with a Swiss movement that had parts from five different countries and my response was, “If I wanted one of those, I would have to go to Japan and buy some clothes.” A statement she considered ridiculous but HER statement was ill-considered. The reason I’d have had to go to Japan is that I like having two Japanese things on me at all times, and I didn’t need glasses until I was 20. If, I had noticed that I couldn’t see into the distance at 15, and was wearing glasses at school, it might have been different, but my comfort zone is, two Japanese things and two Chinese things (when I was younger, I might have been comfortable enough to say, in winter, okay, an Australian made shirt, jumper, underclothes and Chinese made jeans and shoes from Taiwan, Hong Kong or Malaysia, and in summer, Australian made shirt and underpants, and Chinese shorts (or vice versa) as long as I had something from a country of special interest on me) and not having a Japanese watch would have meant wanting a Japanese made shirt or pants to substitute.

I remember, in Year Twelve, being given the question in Economics, “Is it unpatriotic to say that we shouldn’t always buy Australian made products?” My answer is no, but as I’m a bit older now, I say, it’s more nuanced. If you start with bare land and say, “Okay, this country has a natural advantage for this, so we’ll suggest they specialise, and this country has that, you might have a point, but if you’re prepared to sacrifice local industry that employs people, no, it’s not unpatriotic, but the economic costs can be diabolical. But on the other hand, countries have GOT to trade, no country can be an autarky!”

Bearing in mind, a neurotypical may have a t-shirt that’s made in Japan and may be asked about it and they may reply, “No, my sibling/cousin/parent/whatever went to Japan and brought it back for me and I wear it occasionally,” suggests that it’s not as strong an interest to them but they may have had an interest in the other person’s holiday. I bought my brother a t-shirt that was made in Japan as a souvenir and he wears it occasionally.

For today, I ask the question, “Is it unpatriotic for an autistic person to want to buy products from a foreign country that they’re interested in?” And my answer is a resounding “NO!” And to anybody who says it is, my response is, “Clearly, you don’t understand autistic special interests and the comfort they bring autistic people. And if an autistic person wants two Japanese things on them, or a Swiss watch and a German car, or a French one, or whatever else, they’re not hurting you and they’re not hurting the economy, either.”