Cultural Materialism question?

Question

I more or less have an idea on what to write in my research paper, but I'd like to get more smart ideas. The question goes...

How does the theory of Cultural Materialism affect:

a. The similarities and differences of cultures across the globe?

b. The development of human behavior?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Cultural materialism is bring together more cultures than seperating them.  As a sociologist, we have long discussed that to change a country, for example China, we knew years ago we just had to put in a McDonalds, movie theaters, and more retail stores.  This is particularly true with Japan, a historical imperial nation that now boast teenagers with piercing, purple hair, and loud music.  Actually, it was Karl Marx who declared that people have begun to have a "fetish for commodities".  On your second point of human behavior, I think it difficult to dissect at the individual level, but as groups or strata we see that the behaviors of consumption bring groups together with similarities such as driving the same type of cars, or wearing the same type of clothes, or shoes such as Nike etc.  Even things that would be consumed so that somebody stands out as different is actually nonoriginal. For example, historically labeled deviants, or even military or certain groups got tatoos, now we see them everyone where partiuclarly a growth in females.  Or a kid was called a "goth" for wearing black, but now that label is nonexistent pretty much as we find that once a movement takes on and is absorbed in the mainstream than those behaviors become adopted and normative.

Answer 2

The cultural materialism of one culture and how it affects another culture over time. Example, how American materialism affects natives of the Brazilian rain forest. Do the missionaries actually destroy the people they are trying to save, example the movie "At Play In The Fields of The Lord" Human behavior is shaped by the idea of ownership/materialism. How do cultures change when the idea of ownership is introduced. Example European farming and land ownership being introduced to the Americas in the 17th century and how it affected the Native Americans.

A lot of these have already been done to death but have fun.

Answer 3

OK. Good question.  Basically, most cultures I have investigated value  material representation. These values  display objects or symbols which give the achiever a heightened cultural social value.

Money, as we know it, was created thousands of years ago. The "heads of state" decided how the medium of exchange was to be calculated.  

Now to address the subjects of your question:

Global cultural differences define the value of the item(s): animal or human, which require some sort of monetary definition and exchange.

The similarities are fairly obvious. The value of the desired "material" is equated by the agreed value of compensation.

Human behavior is, really, sort of constant.  Greed,  is defined as accumulation of that which is defined by the group as valuable, that which is valuable, and the methodology for the accumulation of of these valuables.

Assigned individual value depends on the group.  When one really thinks about it, it's amazing how much power is given to the paper representing the medium of exchange accepted in our society.  It's not guaranteed by precious metal, jewels, or any tangible product.  Just paper.  Amazing.