Dumpster Diving Essay

People who own abundant properties still have lofty goals, like Lars Eighner, a man with sufficient income but still enjoying dumpster diving. His goal is to obtain pure and simple happiness through this interest. He even defines dumpster diving as “[an] outdoor work, often surprisingly pleasant” (“On Dumpster Diving” 421-430). Eighner can own many things in his middle-class life, but his mind is not propelled by those materials to want more. Instead, he discovers the simple but meaningful treasure hunting activity to enrich his life, which not only enables him to obtain basic necessities like clothes and food, but also elevates him to a higher mental state of caring little of money. Moreover, like what is mentioned above, Phyllis Rose, who has the ability to consume but only enjoys the shopping process, suggests that “shopping is a time of reflection, assessment, spiritual self-discipline” (“Shopping and Other Spiritual Adventures in America Today” 482-484). Additionally, she can gain social connections while shopping. When she sees some fat people dressing jeans as what she looks like, she will gain a sense of belongings, and automatically, she joins a “community.” She can be materialist, but she never is. She sticks to higher goals of immersing herself in the mentally joyful experience, to enjoy the feeling of shopping and to join in communities through

We are greedy. We as humans cling to the materialistic things in our lives. Some of us have everything we need to live a perfectly comfortable life, but keep wanting. Greed controls almost everyone, no matter how many possessions we have in our name. In this, when our greed exceed our needs, we lose sight of what is important, leading to our detriment. Three examples of greed and its effects are shown in the stories of “The Necklace”, “Civil Peace”, and “The Golden Touch”.

But more often than not, the aspiration for having these material goods to reach a specific sense of self can result in being detrimental. This empty pursuit of material items was explored in the well known book of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FItzgerald. Even though this book was written in the 1920s, the ideals and themes it holds still is true today. Through the characters lives, the reader can see the effect of wanting goods in order to portray themselves in an idealized way and how it ultimately leads to their corrupt morale. This is representative of the of the American culture and how there is a sense of hollowness in the society. In our world today, the aspect of materialism as greatly impact who we are as a people together and has taken over our lives. Through the ambition of trying to obtain certain tangible objects, it can take over the perceptive mindset of a person and cause them to aspire for a false reality. So, this longing of ownership of these tangible items can either have a lasting impact of encouragement and passion or it can have a dismissive impact on one’s character. More often than not, I believe that in today’s world, people

It should not be about buying a house, car, boat, etc. Why materialism made a sudden leap in this era, I would think the media has something to do with that. It’s understandable to work up to those additions, but they should not just be the “goal” that one works up for! Somewhere along the way, the pursuit of pleasure started taking hold of the dream. Life should not be shallow. Make it into something significant, elemental, and profound. There is so much more to it!

(AGG) "Once you need less, you have more"- Anonymous (Quotes Native); Materialism takes over people 's lives and makes them want more, but this doesn 't necessarily mean that they are happy with more material. (BS-1) Materialism can be seen through interactions between characters and have become a part of everyday life. (BS-2) Materialism is also a major part of society itself, the people in power want others to have material. (BS-3) When people get away from material, they find happiness, which is what materialistic people have been looking for all along; but they are looking in the wrong place. (TS) In the novel “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, materialism is a prominent theme showcased through many characters, and it has been proven

In the essay “My Daily Dives in the Dumpster,” Lars Eighner—an educated yet homeless individual—recounts his experience as a scavenger who seeks for his basic necessities in dumpsters. On his journey of survival in a penniless condition, Eighner has acquired important life skills and most importantly, gained valuable insights about life and materialism. Throughout his essay, Eigher employs deliberate word choice, a didactic tone, and a logical organization to convey that there is no shame in living “from the refuse of others” (Eighner) and to emphasize that materialistic possessions do not guarantee a fulfilled, happy life.

Some of the negative effects of consumerism that many critics may argue and that will be further emphasized on, are the overexploitation of consumerism which has lead to economic poverty, and increase in debts by continuingly increasing already high consumption levels at the expense of less developed or poorer nations. Additionally, environmentalists blame consumerism for the resulting damage it has done to the environment through consumption and wastage of products, as a result cause pollution, land contamination, and forest degradation. Lastly will look upon the effect consumerism can have upon one’s own personal life and how It can result in a pursuit to fulfill the infinite desires of “self”, thus forgetting once moral values and the inability to distinguish right from wrong (“Negative”

Since the rise of globalization and the introduction of offshoring/outsourcing, sweatshops have been an ethical issue in question. In these “sweatshops”, workers slave away for long hours in unsafe work conditions and are paid little in the end. Yet these same sweatshops also employ millions of men, women, and yes—children, drastically improving the economies in the countries they exist in. Sweatshops are a bittersweet necessity for the developing countries of the world, however, it is unethical for corporations to take advantage of the cheap and convenient labor in sweatshops to produce their products on the basis of economic need. As sweatshops are necessary yet unethical, it is imperative that they are rehabilitated over time rather than

The global garment industry, worth more than $400 billion dollars today, is a very lucrative industry. Garment factories in developing countries working for retailers in developed ones shows how efficiency is increased and every party can benefit through outsourcing of labour from developed countries; retailers and consumers get clothes at cheaper prices while employment is provided to areas plagued with poverty. However, it is evident that many of these garment factories are sweatshops, which are factories and businesses that violates local or international labour laws, such as providing workers with atrocious working conditions, providing minimal compensation or even employing child labour. Like it or not, many of our clothes does not come ethically and they have probably encouraged labour exploitation in one way or another. How have sweatshops benefitted society or caused harm to it? This research paper will identify and analyse the significance of sweatshops, reasons for its prevalence and compare its positive and negative impacts on society.

Notably a lot of are behavior for shiny new objects is fueled from what is seen in everyday existence. The extravagant life style of the upper class which is on constant display across many media broadcasting outlets around the world for everyone to see and desire. Prompting individuals impulsive reaction to make purchases for what they see; even though they know otherwise they can not afford it. The textbook gives numerous accounts to why America has become a nation of mass consumption and what triggers people impulse to spend in relation to material possession and the American Dream.

According to U.S. News, “Between 2001 and 2013, the expanded trade deficit with China cost the U.S. 3.2 million jobs, and three quarters of those jobs were in manufacturing” (Peralta). Although it is smart as a business owner to export their jobs because it is cheaper, it’s still not ethically alright to do that to the people in third world countries. It’s less of an expense the business must pay causing the company to make a larger profit at the end of the day. But all in all, the businesses should try to keep jobs in the United States in order to help the American economy. But it is not ethical to pay these workers such a low wage that they can barely survive and provide for their families. Having traveled to Guatemala and seeing how most people live in third world countries the fact that well know American companies treat their oversees employees so poorly makes me angry. While in Guatemala many of the people there would work multiple jobs and still don’t make enough to be able to support their families. Their working conditions that I saw were terrible and their living conditions were not favorable just like the ones that were showed in the Nike sweatshop video. Although many people are looking for work in these third world countries to support their families, companies need to respect them and give the workers what is deserved. I believe that sweatshops still exist today, it’s changed from over time and they all have moved overseas because there are not many global laws that prevent against the harsh working conditions for these

"We Americans are the ultimate innocents. We are forever desperate to believe that this time the government is telling us the truth."(Sydney Schanberg) America has the biggest Military compared to the whole world. This type of Military size has granted America, the world superpower, nickname. It has cost us, taxpayers, billions of dollars out of your pockets; this is leaving only 1% of US citizens own almost the wealth of America. Our own government has given contracts to corporations in the Military complex. Corporations make billions of dollars while paying foreign workers a low amount close to nothing. Corporate power has become out of control. Their power to change laws and regulations has given them access like it never had before. Corporate

When defining what exactly a sweatshop is and what it consists of, there are many forms that it has taken over the many decades of America’s existence. The basic definition of a sweatshop is a factory in which its employees, many being children, are exploited; working long hours in extreme cases of hazardous and unhealthful conditions for little pay. Despite the fact this is a

Generally, globalism has been attributed to better worldwide communication, advanced technological development, and a higher international standard of living, and rightfully so. However, with all these new worldwide advantages comes a new type of human exploitation. Many companies, specifically American ones, have been quick to take advantage of the cheap and dangerous labor available in most of the undeveloped world. Countries who are working through their period of Industrialization are being siphoned off and used to maintain America’s economy, while their developing country reaps no reward from the low paying, dehumanizing jobs that American companies offer their low class workers. This type of inhumane job outsourcing can only be compared

The working conditions in the global South are fragile, as workers have little to no rights in the workplace, and are treated by management like slaves. Scientific management methods are brought into the workplace; managers watch over the workers to ensure productivity of the workers. Workers attempted to start a union and ultimately were beat by the managers for the attempt of unionizing. Management inflicts many rules often persuaded by owners, to ensure the product is sold with the least production costs. Relocating also leads to environment issues in the global South, leaving many workers facing possible disease due to chemicals, poor working conditions, and dangerous pollution. Relocating also means, sending production to a place with low labour law. Firms are more concerned with profit than the safety of their workers, therefore sending the industry to the global South means workers have little say in the workplace. Benjamin Powell argues in the film that these poor conditions will eventually lead to better days for the workers in the global South as these hard times will help inflict better labour regulations in the future (Morgan, 2015). A possible benefit to moving the garment industry to the global South, is a way of creating jobs in developing countries, but workers are not making enough to support themselves. Both positives and negatives of relocating,