Analysis Of Lars Eighner's Dumpster Diving

Diving into the Depths of Inequality
On any given night in America, there are 750,000 United States citizens who are considered homeless with one in five of them are being considered chronically so (Stanford Center). Throughout the course of his essay “Dumpster Diving”, Lars Eighner discusses the numerous lessons he learned while living his days on the streets. Today, there is also a record-breaking wage gap that exists between the wealthy and the poor and it slowly widening as the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. In fact, in July of 2015, the poorest half of the US was estimated to own a mere 2.5% of the country’s wealth; in comparison, the top 1% owns 35% of it. Beyond a reasonable doubt, there is an unequal distribution
Take present-day celebrities such as Kim Kardashian for instance. She lives in a lavish house rumored to have cost upwards of twenty million dollars, has an estimated worth of around $45M, and has her own boutique shop and clothing line (Bio), It is clearly evident that Kim Kardashian does not need to necessarily live such an extravagant lifestyle in order to survive and be content. It is safe to say that majority of her possessions are of sentimental value or help to prove her high societal status. Eigner states his “desire to grab for the gaudy bubble that has been largely sated” and that is “is an attitude I share with the very wealthy”. The rich, however, know they are well-off and have anything they could ever wish for right at their fingertips. In addition, celebrities and other famous people such as Kim Kardashian hold onto so many expensive items that realistically have no practical
In reality though, the rich are the most materialistic of all. They posses the most, strive to consistently attain more and more, and are never fully satisfied with what they have. The poor and middle-class are the exact opposite. These people know what it is like to endure hardships as well as to make sacrifices and therefore take considerably less pride in materialistic objects. Materialism is an inward battle as well as an outwards. A materialistic person values extrinsic factors (ie. image, status, prestige, beauty, and popularity) more than intrinsic factors like being a good person and behaving authentically. This personality trait is most commonly seen in the rich, not the middle-class as Eighner claimed in the closing sentiments of his narrative on dumpster