What Is Lars Eighner's View On Materialism

Lars Eighner holds unique, nearly universally applicable beliefs on the materialistic side of humanity and it’s constant obsession with wealth. Eighner’s opinions may be quickly dismissed as some feel as though someone in his position cannot make a valid argument about topics often associated with the upper class, such as wealth and materialism, however his points about these topics take a sort of “outsider” perspective to the situation, qualifying them even more. Often the most valuable commentary we can find about our own lives comes from those around us, and Eighner, being the dumpster diver he is, deals with all types of people and can make valid observations. Eighner’s attitude towards materialism and wealth, materialism being a superficial
He speaks about there being “no value in the abstract,” (paragraph 63) he views holding objects for reasons other than survival as a waste, things without a specific purpose are not of any use. Although this can be attributed to the fact that he is homeless and doesn’t have the space available to hold onto various objects he doesn’t absolutely need, it is a point that can be applied to those in other positions in their lives, as it immediately causes the essential question to appear of “what truly holds value?” The answer to that is different to every person, as value is a relative concept that can be applied to everything, but in his position he has to make the determination between what is valuable and what is not daily as he cannot travel along with everything he finds, if anyone would know how to determine value it would be him, and for him practicality is what determines what is worth keeping. In terms of what attachment to material possessions causes, his view is that “Some material things are white elephants that eat up the possessors substance” (paragraph 64) Relating back to his view on practicality, he views the valueless, non practical items, as white elephants, objects that are useless and troublesome. Holding onto things that you won’t use won’t further your life in any way, it will hold you back as you can’t accomplish anything
After all, wouldn’t you want to take advice on what’s valuable from a wealthy businessman rather than a homeless dumpster diver? The stigma around the homeless in general is a widespread trait, whenever I see a beggar on the side of the road asking for money I notice that the majority of people won’t even look up at the man. The truth is that Either holds more knowledge about materialism and wealth than most others, as he has a broad look at nearly every branch of society in his quest to find the essentials for life. A knowledge of any one person can be deciphered by a look through their garbage, as what they throw away will show what they find important in life. Also, Eighner would be the one to know most about what is valuable as he is forced constantly to decipher between worth and worthlessness as he has to make that decision with every item he finds due to his limited space. Eighner argues that “there is an attitude I share with the very wealthy, we both know there is plenty more where what we have came from” (paragraph 67) Although there are numerous differences between him and those making millions they both share a common perspective of their views on wealth, they know where to find it’s true meaning. Wealth may be different depending on the