I came across a sentence from an old New Yorker article:
The New Yorker, August 7, 1978 P. 18
Illustrated talk story about gauging people's income by their shoes and how fast they walk. Writer's observations were inspired by a young millionaire whom he followed up Fifth Ave. and lost because the tycoon walked twice as fast as anybody else. In the area around Broadway and 72nd St. writer sees a girl in saddle shoes who probably gets money from home, an old man shuffling along on Social Security, a woman in gold high heels with an estimated 5-figure income. Sandals are low-income. People in sneakers are fast out of desperation, not wealth.
Does the adverb fast mean firmly here? I can't understand what the sentence means. People in sneakers are firmly out of desperation? What is not wealth?