I was talking to some friends tonight, and told them I was thinking about what it would be like to be done. Then I gave them this example.
I own some cast iron cookware. But it’s to use – I’m not a collector. There are four skillets – sized 6, 8, 10, and 12 inch – on my wall where I store my cast iron cookware. I have a small, medium, and large Dutch oven, some of them enameled. Two corn stick pans, because my corn stick recipe makes two pans worth, and can’t be easily halved. And a cast iron griddle, for when I need to make lots of pancakes or tortillas.
I will probably never purchase another piece of cast iron cookware in my life. Because I don’t need any more. I don’t have use cases for other cast iron cookware. And it won’t wear out – the cast iron cookware I have will last for generations.
Also, there isn’t a viable upgrade path. There are cast iron skillets in the marketplace that cost more than mine, and that have a prettier finish, or longer handles, or whatever, but they are not better at cooking than mine is. There are reasons someone might want to purchase them, but they are not improvements on what I have.
So, since I have all my needs met, and they will last the rest of my life, and there is no real upgrade path, then I’m done buying cast iron. When it comes to my life, there is no way for anyone to make money from me if their job is to sell cast iron. As regards to cast iron cookware, I have opted out of capitalism altogether.
Now I just want to do that with every other part of my life.