Thayer 1

Russell Thayer Professor Neuburger Eng. Comp - 102 4 February 2012 Essay Response On Dumpster Diving On Dumpster Diving was written by Lars Eighner shortly after he became homeless in the 1980s. While the majority of the piece reads like a step-by-step instructional, it is in the concluding paragraph where Eighner concedes his true societal disposition: people are decoupled from the true processes that generate happiness and well-being. Consider the statement Eighner makes, Between us [the wealthy], there are the rat-race millions who scavenge the cable channels looking for they know not what. This suggests that Eighner, while impoverished and displaced, knows exactly what he needs to survive and exactly how to obtain those needs. The rat-race millions, can make no such claim. They have become, through the process of cyclical consumption, disconnected from the true, symbiotic relationships that bring about personal fulfillment. Eighner even takes the time to state, I am sorry for them. This clearly demonstrates it does not matter if they live a more leisured lifestyle than Eighner because no matter how many conveniences they bestow upon themselves, they are still drifting through life with no clear purpose. This, Eighner believes, is not true of himself.

Eighner, Lars. "On Dumpster Diving." Power of Language - Language of Power. Vol. 2nd Custom Edition for Ozark Technical Community College. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. 253-65. Print.

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