'Downshifting' - The Next New Buzz Word

Those who know me would have heard me at least once quote a statistic of Australia having the highest amount of unpaid overtime in the developed world (on an island in the South Pacific, your employment options are somewhat 'limited'). Seems that there is a growing trend for people to start 'downshifting'.

Basically it is a matter of not working yourself into the ground and taking leisure time over extra income (how that exactly works in Sydney - 4th most expensive city in the world to live in, beats me).

A quote from a recent article on the subject:

http://radar.smh.com.au/archives/2005/08/australian_idle.html

is:

'The true cost of my car was not the $50,000 I paid for it, but the lives of those 14-year-olds who worked in the mines'

I wonder what sweat shop my shoes came from....