Scavenging For Material Rewards and Things of Happiness
Materialistic people, whether wealthy or not, can never have enough material belongings to fill avoid within themselves. And yet, they waste much of what they purchase and do not see wastefulness as a problem. Today the purchase of unnecessary material goods has increased and wastefulness has also increased. Dumpsters are full of consumer’s unwanted possessions that will eventually be replaced with more binge purchases. Do these things really make consumers happy and if so, at what price; their health and happiness. Consumers could be happier if they stay focused on the most important items needed to survive in their day-to-day lives.
In his article, “On Dumpster Diving,” Lars Eighner,
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Kasser argues, “Indeed, what stands out across the studies is a simple fact: people who strongly value the pursuit of wealth and possession report lower psychological well-being than those who are less concerned with such aims” (494). Consumers let material things control many aspects of their lives without a second thought. Furthermore, they need things to make them feel better, whether it is because of loneliness or some other reason. Some people see having more material things as a way of fitting in with society and thinking that money and things give people status. Materialistic people often do this at the expense of their health and family. Materialistic values can originate from early insecurities or childhood trauma. Accruing more things is only a temporary fix to the root of the …show more content…
Just because someone wants something doesn’t necessarily mean they need it. In his article, “The Joy of Less,” Josh Sanburn argues, “It would be one thing if all our possessions were making us happier, but the opposite seems to be occurring [and] one study shows that a home with too much stuff can actually lead to higher levels of anxiety” (Time 46). Sanburn also cites UCLA anthropologist Elinor Ochs, who led a decade-long study on hyperacquisition when she says, “These objects that we bring in the house are not inert. They have consequences” (Time 46). Considering this, it’s hard to understand why people would allow material items to control their lives, especially when it can lead to unhappiness and health issues. Unfortunately, people who are materialistic do not think there is a problem. Given this information, one would think that they would try to figure out why this out of control obsession to own things and spend money is happening and to seek the help needed to work toward making changes in their
In the past decades, the booming housing market has caused the prices of real estate to dramatically increase causing the issue of homelessness to be on the rise. Many people who do live on the streets, resort to dumpster diving and finding trash to call theirs. In his article: "On Dumpster Diving" Lars Eighner, goes into depth about his experiences while dumpster diving. Eighner found many items in the dumpster that were still edible or somewhat useful. He began diving a year before he became homeless and has continued while he wrote his piece of work (Eighner 673). Eighner enlightens us with many instances of his journey dumpster diving while he was homeless.
“I rather would be blind than then see this world in yellow, and bought and sold by kings that hammer roses into gold.” (King Midas Pg.462 Para.10) Many think that if they got what they wanted they would be happy, but if the world was all based on malterlistic things and everyone got what they wanted there would be chaos and no feelings just want and people would do crazy things to get what they want. Now a day’s people mistake malterlistic things for happiness. “The necklace”, “Ads may spur unhappy kids to embrace materialism”, And “Thrill of the chase” illustrates examples of materialism and show some base their happiness on it.
...ghner, 1993). It is the authors belief that consumers are aware of their consumption, as well as realize how wasteful they are with food in general For the students who do not fit into Eighner's wasteful category, he presents a grouping of frugal consumers who, "carefully wrap up even the smallest leftover[s] and shove it into the back of the refrigerator for six months or so before discarding it" (Eighner, 1993).
The author, Lars Eighner explains in his informative narrative, “On Dumpster Diving” the lifestyle of living out of a dumpster. Eighner describes the necessary steps to effectively scavenge through dumpsters based on his own anecdotes as he began dumpster diving a year before he became homeless. The lessons he learned from being a dumpster diver was in being complacent to only grab what he needs and not what he wants, because in the end all those things will go to waste. Eighner shares his ideas mainly towards two direct audiences. One of them is directed to people who are dumpster divers themselves, and the other, to individuals who are unaware of how much trash we throw away and waste. However, the author does more than direct how much trash
Grisham and Barlow (2005) define hoarding as the excessive collection of items and the inability to discard them. As per DSM-5 (2013), hoarding falls under obsessive-compulsive and related disorders due to the recurrent and persistent urges, as well as its repetitive behaviors or mental acts. The act of hoarding can affect anyone, regardless of age, sex or economic status. However, according to development and course, there is a strong association in having a family member who is a compulsive hoarder and becoming a hoarder oneself. This problem usually emerges in early adolescence and tends to worsen with age (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals have been known to develop hoarding after experiencing a stressful life event they had difficulty coping with, such as the death of a loved one or divorce. Additionally, individuals affected by hoarding behaviors usually have complications with information processing, problems forming emotional attachments, behavioral avoidance, and flawed beliefs about the nature of possessions (Muroff, Bratiotis & Steketee, 2010). Furthermore, people who hoard are typically socially withdrawn and isolated while, ironically, others turn to the comfort of hoarding out of loneliness.
He starts by giving a lot of personal examples (Pizza shop example), then talks about other people who try it (The stages of beginning to dumpster dive), and explains how dumpster diving is a lot better than the more accepted picking up of cans (comparison to a wino). He then delves into the ethics behind dumpster diving (looking at prescription bottles and such), and then if one, presumably the reader, wanted to try it how they would do so (pole with hook on it). He ends with some deep insights into dumpster diving and his way of life. I think that the way he organizes his essay, and his overall tone, are to convince the reader that dumpster diving is not as bad as everyone things, and to make people actually interested in trying it. He first
According to Mayberry (2009) Lars Eighner, a graduate of the University of Texas, became homeless in 1988 and again in 1995 (p. 351). Some of the accounts from Travels with Lisbeth (1993), a book by Lars Eighner, depicted what he went through and what he found during his homeless state. A homeless person must eat and sleep but may not know where or when this might happen next. The human will to survive enabled Eighner to eat food from a dumpster, reach out to other for handouts, and sleep in places other than a bed with covers.
Homelessness is increasing every year and effecting Americans of different age, ethnicity and religion. In Lars Eighner “On Dumpster Diving” he explains what he went through while being homeless. He describes how and what foods someone should be looking for and to always be conscious of what one is eating because there is always a reason why something has been thrown out. He continues to go into detail about other items that can be found in the dumpster like sheets to sleep on and pieces of paper to write on. Things that can keep him busy through the day. Eighner carefully explains to his readers how being a dumpster diver has become a life style for the homeless and this is how they survive. It’s a way of living and they are comfortable doing it. “I began dumpster diving about a year before I became homeless” (Eighner 713). He tries to bring us into the world of being homeless. It is hard to imagine what it would be like in that situation, and how could surviving as a dumpster diver be a way of survival? As a dumpster diver, Eighner is able to tell us what is ok to eat and have and what is not ok for your health. His essay starts by uttering some guidelines of what is and is not safe to eat. “Eating safely from the dumpsters involves three principles: using common sense for evaluating the food, knowing the dumpsters of the given areas and always ask, “Why was this discarded?” (Eighner 714).
The reason why I pick “dumpster diving and food waste “ is one of important subjects that I strongly believe in. First, I would like to talk about is dumpster diving. Dumpster diving has the cons and their pros. People often dumpster dive for useful things like cans food, clothes , and useful furniture. Things that people need that they cannot afford. There is a saying “Another man's trash is another man's treasure”. Meaning for this quote, a man can throw something away and forget about it. Then someone else will find it makes it their own.
A) Lars Eighner, in “On Dumpster Diving”, portrays the waste that is accumulated due to modern consumerism and materialism. He also demonstrates the issue of the wage gap. Consumers of the modern age spend too much and therefore waste too much. In the essay, Eighner describes life as an scavenger and demonstrates how people are able to live by the minimal resources. “Scavengers” are able to survive on the waste of the consumer. Eighner presents this scenario as a contrast to the life of a modern consumer, in order to portray it’s unnecessary wastefulness. Mainly, food seems to be taken lightly by society, as Eighner as a scavenger finds “a half jar of peanut butter”,
We live in a materialistic culture that thrives on having "things." Yes, we must have things in order to live (shelter, food, water, etc.), but the word is misused. Our culture has become so materialistic that we forget what is really important. The "have" mode has almost become the norm, especially with our generation. Even though we subconsciously practice the mode of “being,” many people do not realize it which makes it difficult to appreciate life and all the aspects of “being.” “Because the society we live in is devoted to acquiring property and making a profit, we rarely see any evidence of the being mode of existence and most people see the having mode as the most natural mode of existence, even the only acceptable way of life” (Fromm 25). Majority of people want to be as successful and rich as possible that this idea takes over their mind and eventually lives. Every young person is obsessed with “fitting in” and having the latest and greatest items. This attitude causes adolescents to lose sight of what is important and lose touch with their emotions. Our culture needs to begin to think less about material items and being rich and more about his/her emotions and what it means to be truly happy. It is important to focus on the “bigger picture” and how one must become the best person he/she can be to benefit
Millions of people in the United States suffer from a psychological disorder called hoarding. The definition of hoarding according to medical and psychological professionals is defined “as the acquisition of and inability to discard items even though they appear (to others) to have no value” (Frost & Gross, 1993). “Clinically significant compulsive hoarding is quite common, with a prevalence of 4%–5% in the population”. (Mueller, Mitchell, Crosby, Glaesmer, & de Zwaan, 2009; Samuels et al., 2008). “Hoarding and saving symptoms are part of a discrete clinical syndrome that includes the core symptoms of difficulty discarding, urges to save, excessive acquisition, and clutter, as well as indecisiveness, perfectionism, procrastination, disorganization, and avoidance”. (Steketee & Frost, 2003). A complex psychological disorder, hoarding effects the individual, family and communities. The following is a brief overview of the hoarding condition, diagnosis, and its effect on lives and treatments that can be helpful.
Experts think that 10 percent of the population, and possibly 20 percent of women are chronic spenders (McVeigh, 2000). Today’s materialistic world tacitly condones shopping sprees. People who cannot stop shopping, even at the expense of their career, marriage, family and finances, are driven by pleasure-seeking arousal and by gratification. Seem that life’s little pleasures can become major problems for people with compulsive disorder.
This is a thought-provoking book about the pursuit of material goods. Kasser is not a preacher, but a scientist. He presents his evidence carefully, and concludes that materialism is a game not worth playing even on its own terms of promoting human happiness.
Acquiring things like houses and cars only has a transient effect on happiness. People’s desires for material possessions crank up at the same, or greater rate, than their salaries. Again, this means that despite considerably more luxurious possessions, people end up no happier. There’s even evidence that materialism makes us less happy. People don’t shift to enjoyable activities when they are rich.... ...