For most people, $20 might pay for a week’s worth of gas or a few cheap groceries. They might use that $20 to go to the movies, eat dinner at a restaurant or buy a t-shirt. For most people, the thought of spending $20 on a single strawberry wouldn’t even cross their mind.
However, that’s exactly what some people did when Erewhon, a Los Angeles-based grocery chain began selling strawberries for $18.99 each earlier this year.
The luxury berries come from Elly Amai, a Japanese fruit company, and are packaged in plastic dome containers.
Influencers and content creators rushed to film themselves trying the viral strawberry, raving about the sweet taste, fragrant scent and beautiful packaging.
Meanwhile, most users watching from home can only dream of purchasing “luxury fruit” without batting an eye. As the influencers on-screen gush about “the most incredible strawberry they’ve ever had”, everyone else can’t help but think — it kind of just looks like a regular strawberry.
In other news, Katy Perry went to space as part of the first “all-female space crew” on April 14. Most of the women on the 11-minute spaceflight weren’t astronauts — just wealthy celebrities powerful enough to secure a seat on a rocketship funded by Jeff Bezos.
So, while the average American works endlessly to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living, celebrities are going on day trips to outer space and absurd luxury groceries are becoming a social media trend.comp
At this point, wealth inequality has become downright comical.
“I think wealth inequality is one of the most devastating issues that we’re facing now,” Michael Kreiter, a professor of sociology said. “We have [some people] hoarding all the wealth, and it seems like a rich country, but we have millions of people living in poverty. One in five children are food insecure, so we live in this major society of contradictions of massive wealth and massive poverty.”
Younger generations are hit especially hard by the hostile economy they find themselves in.
“[Generation Z] has been screwed over hugely,” he said. “There’s no denying it. The price of college is extravagant and it doesn’t need to be … It is nowhere near comparable to what your parents’ or grandparents’ experience was like getting an education.”
“Now, working minimum wage, you have to work full-time for more weeks than there are in a year to afford the average tuition payment at a university,” Kreiter continued. “The younger generation has much harder financial problems that are not being recognized by the people who control society.”
Many come to college hoping to get a job that will provide financial stability, only to graduate with immense debt and limited prospects. Even as tuition increases, college degrees are becoming less valuable, leading many to question whether or not college is worth it anymore.
It’s safe to say that the average college student is not going to be purchasing luxury fruit like a $19 strawberry on a regular basis.
“I’m mostly paying for college by myself with a little help from my grandparents,” Anna Dumas, a freshman studying Neuroscience said. “I don’t really have financial aid or anything like that … If I got an extra $20, it would probably go into my savings.”
“If I had an extra $20 just handed to me I would probably have it split up,” Natalina Fairchild, a sophomore studying Business Administration, said. “Honestly, I’d probably split half of it and have ten [dollars] go towards school stuff or something that’s a requirement or a need, and ten [dollars] would probably just be for fun.”
The $19 Erewhon strawberries are just one example of ridiculous prices becoming normalized, but they don’t paint the full picture. The entire country is facing rising costs on basic necessities.
As Americans look for ways to curb inflation and make basic necessities more affordable, tensions rise over the “right” solution. Most people agree that something needs to change, but figuring out exactly what needs to change is easier said than done.
While working-class Americans argue over policies and trivial matters, the ultra-wealthy keep flaunting their riches, churning out waste and expanding their empires.
“I fully believe that these things can change,” Kreiter said. “We didn’t make this terrible world — we were given it, but we also have the power to change it. There’s enough willpower that if students start to see themselves as a group that has power in society, instead of indebted individuals just trying to make it on their own, there can be rapid changes to the way the system works.”
Everyone would be better off setting aside political tensions and uniting in one simple truth: something has to change. Arguing with your neighbor won’t fix anything. The only way to be heard, regardless of what you believe, is by advocating for change at both the local and national levels.
