You can live quite well today with cast-offs...
There is recent story about this in San Francisco...
In San Francisco, Making a Living From Your Billionaire Neighbor’s Trash - The New York Times | Global News Archive
As a property manager for decades I see what people toss out and leave behind... low income to high income... I have been given cars that needed nothing more than air in the tires and a jump... all those shiny new Christmas Presents fill the dumpsters by Easter...
I'm always finding kids bikes at the dumpsters... when I ask the response is generally indifference... like it is broken or my child doesn't want it anymore... a broken bike could mean the tires need air!
Never before have there been such an abundance of material possessions… so much so that value suffers... toys, furniture, electronics, clothes, etc...
What I am about to say my surprise some...
A big problem here and for the city is electrical tampering... businesses, to city street lights having the Junction Boxes opened leaving live wires dangling...
The reason is the Homeless have smart phones but no way to charge them unless they get creative... so they use jumpers on live circuits to charge their electronic devices...
Only in America... homeless and living on the street with a smart phone and internet/entertainment but having to steal electricity to keep the batteries charged.