Selfishness Is Being Selfish

Waste land is a very powerful documentary, where Vik Muniz takes us to a different world, but during the time he’s presenting this place one can relate with the humans living there. They live from others trash, some are ashamed of what they do, others are proud of what they do, but most of them if not all believe that is a dignifying job, their way of leaving.

Heather Roger's essay Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage offers a compelling outlook on society’s excessive and

“Waste” is a short essay in which Wendell Berry critically analyzes the growing epidemic of trash that is polluting the nation’s land, waterways, and the air. Berry explains to the readers how the remnants of floods and litter that leave farmlands scattered with trash, makes more work for the farmers who have to rid their land of the trash before they can use it. Along with the floods, roads and highways also lead to a barrage of garbage from people who are too lazy or ignorant to take proper care of their garbage, which Berry claims leads to “. . . a constant precipitation of cans, bottles, the plastic-ware containers of fast food joints, soiled plastic diapers, and sometimes whole bags of garbage,” (Waste 1) along the edges of their fields. The garbage of the country continues to be a burden for everyone, whether it impacts them directly or not. Although it would be impossible to eliminate garbage completely from the country, the waste could be greatly reduced. Most of today’s trash is a consequence of the laziness of American society.

In today’s society, there is an abundance of waste. This is clear in observing how people live, we often throw out items because we want something better. Lars Eighner, author of "On Dumpster Diving," writes about his experiences being homeless and how he survived on the waste of others. This provides insight on how the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure," is true. Jeremy Seifert, who directed the documentary Dive!, also talks about how he survives off of other people's waste, but this was a decision he made. As they tell of their experiences, Seifert and Eighner both come to the conclusion that society is wasteful. While both individuals provided good information, I believe Seifert presented the better argument. Both of

Lars Eighner once found himself homeless, scavenging dumpsters for his next meal and looking for possessions that could benefit him in this difficult time. While on this journey, Eighner discovered how wasteful today’s society is when it comes to vital materials in life. In his article, “Dumpster Diving”, Eighner uses an informative tone to emphasize the fact that people take things for granted by wasting valuable items they could still benefit from. Eighner establishes his use of logos by emphasizing his view on wastefulness in today’s society.

Eighner chooses to dive into dumpsters not because he needs the material items he finds, but rather because he does not. In the conclusion of his essay “On Dumpster Diving,” Eighner makes it clear that he believes excess material objects are unnecessary and that they do more harm than good for a person, and this is true. Eighner accurately describes how having large amounts of material goods does nothing to improve the well-being or morality of the human race because holding onto physical possessions leads to the development of bad habits and traits within society.

Philosophers have debated for centuries the question “Are humans are selfish or selfless?” There are two main arguments for debating human nature, ethical egoists and ethical altruists. Ethical egoists believe that “even though we can act in others’ interests because we are concerned for others, we ought always to act in our own interest” (Solomon et al 2012 p. 460). Ethical altruists believe quite the opposite; ethical altruism is the belief that “people ought to act with each other’s interests in mind” (Solomon et al 2012 p. 461). In discussing the four theories, psychological egoism, psychological altruism, ethical egoism, and ethical altruism, with my husband, there was not a clear dividing line for whether humans are selfish or selfless in nature. After much debate, we concluded that humans are born ethical egoists; however, ethical altruists are made through proper training, care, and nurture.

Despite the fact that human beings are oftentimes reluctant to admit it, it is a fact of life that one of the most fundamental aspects of human nature is self-interest. Selfishness pervades everyday life, no matter what efforts are made to deny and rationalize its existence. In the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, the unique method handling the death of Addie that each character uses exemplifies the inherent selfishness apparent in human nature and outlines the various emotions that accompany the death of a loved one.

The essay “On Dumpster Diving“, by Lars Eighner is based on a man who speaks of his survival as a homeless man accompanied by his dog named Lizbeth. Not only does he explain his strategies living out of dumpsters, but also the lessons he has learned as a scavenger. Most importantly I think the true message he was trying to get across is that we waste way more then we think we do, it’s in our nature.

A) A contemporary problem raised in “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner Is the amount of wealth spent by consumers, and the effect of that. Consumers spend too much money and waste even more when they throw food and clothing away. In the essay he explains the way of life as an scavenger and how to demonstrate how people are able to live by the minimal resources although most consumers continue to buy things they do not need and continue to waste resources that may be valuable to others. Aside from food, he additionally describes the emotional impact that living out of a dumpster can have on a person. He describes finding sad things such as "abandoned teddy bears, shredded wedding books, and pets lying in state." Seeing the pets makes him think about his dog Lizbeth and how she is likely to end up with a dumpster as her final resting place, as Eighner does not see himself having a place for her before she passes on. Rummaging causes Eighner to consider how much individuals underestimate, including the way that they can purchase something new to replace something old that they have discarded. He feels frustrated because of the individuals who don 't have that extravagance.

Selfishness is defined as the act of being someone who lacks concern for others, only caring for personal gain. Often, people are selfish due to a lack of empathy, misinformation, or a lack of information. The ability of literature to have us experience different worlds through different perspectives is fairly useful for combating this. In fact, literature can shock us about the idea of selfishness and give us pause and new insights into it, if not necessarily cause us to realize our own lack of selflessness and shock us out of it.

Humanity has thought of many ways of besting one another. Whether it be for military weapons, government, or how fertile the soil is, they always want to be better. First world countries seek to digitize everything to live in a world of luxury while third world countries long for opportunities and freedom. What they don’t have is what they desire, and what they already obtain they improve tenfold. Stronger, faster, bigger, better: this is the motto every other person subconsciously believes.

Is it apart of man’s nature to only care for themselves and be narcissistically selfish? In biblical stories and even in current events, people have acted on decisions that were considerate only of themselves. Adam and Eve ate the apple while only thinking about themselves as being all powerful, or maybe even in Greek mythology when Cronus ate all his new born so he could maintain power. This is so humans can survive or prevent future threats towards their life. God gave humans this instinct, so humans would have a drive to live, rather then just jumping off a cliff for no apparent reason. Why else would humans try to survive if they didn’t want to? “We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes” (Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene). If a human selfishness is routed to a human’s survival instinct, is this apart of a man’s nature? In the novel, The Strangers by Albert Camus, the author displays man’s nature to diverges from improper human morals, apathy, and emotions like anger and recklessness.

In the film The Examined Life, a compelling documentary directed by Astra Taylor, eight powerful philosophers meander around places that are particularly special to them, as well as their ideas. Issues discussed range from cosmopolitanism to truth, and each philosopher is given 10 minutes to share their thoughts. Although not enough time to really connect with the philosophers, some concrete points are made. Slajov Zizek discusses ecology and our idealization of nature, and the critical importance and implications of how we live as humans in unison with the environment. Slajov Zizek is filmed at a trash dump, very significant to the argument he is about to make.

The disquieting sensation over such a phrase exists due to connotation, yet classify selfishness as concern for one’s self and what difference does it have from self-preservation? Language permits such a phrase to be manipulated by any individual similar to the likes of Ellsworth Toohey. Instruct a surgical doctor to act selfishly rather than selflessly and a justification for lying to patients to earn more money or malpractice is made. Instruct a congressman to act selfishly rather than selflessly and justifications for gerrymandering and other pursuits of personal power are made. Instruct an author, an artist, a sculptor to act selfishly in her creation and a justification for creating her sole intentions is made. It is evident that Roark is correct in his statement because he is more than an architect - he is an artist. His statement cannot live up to its own idea of respect for others’ freedom when altruism is the foundation for the act, as it allows a large potential for individuals to violate that freedom. This is the extent of truth to Howard’s statement. When it is art, a man needs not to conform, may choose to be selfish, and may pursue integrity without criticism. It is when individuals take measures to claim actions not rooted in selflessness and altruism to be so, that a problem