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The definition that google brought up: 'excessively concerned with material possessions; money-oriented.'
By materialistic I also mean being concerned with money and basing one's life/ambitions around money at the expense (no pun intended lol) of thing of 'non-material' value such as human relationships, spiritual development, a harmony with nature.
Before anyone preaches to me about how in poor countries they have to work to survive and they can't afford to think this way, even in those countries one sees a variation. I don't consider things like food material per se, since they're necessary, except when they become more than about surviving or a status symbol in themselves. Anyway, even in countries where the average income is lower like India or China the middle and upper class SEEMS very materialistic.
These are just representative examples, obviously not listing every country in that category:
I'd say:
Top tier (materialism dominates life):
United States
Canada
China
South Korea
Vietnam
Thailand
Singapore
United Arab Emirates
Russia
Australia
Second tier (materialism a major force but also a lot of non-material things valued):
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Spain
Germany
Sweden
Romania
Iran
Japan
Malaysia
New Zealand
Chile
Third tier (a fairly equal balance between material/ T and non-material things valued, but non-material things strong part of life):
Portugal
Greece
India
Mexico
Brazil
Kazakhstan
Cambodia
Egypt
Morocco
Philippines
South Africa
Fiji
Fourth tier (while of course money is important to survival, there is not a great overt desire to acquire material possessions, although of course in many cases this is not possible. or otherwise areas where spirituality/traditional lifestyles are strong):
Mongolia
Nepal
Bhutan
western China
Laos
Sudan
Ethiopia
Zaire
Papua New Guinea
Vanuatu
Of course it's not always the case that poor countries = less materialism but of course there's a correlation...and of course rich countries will definitely appear/tend to be moreso since people have more disposable income.
My list is no doubt off-base in some ways, as this is a subjective thing.
This thread discussion isn't about any scientific ranking or what's right or wrong, but a discussion based merely on opinions. Feel free to make your own list/comparisons or dispute/discuss mine.
Hmm. I don't personally know anyone who is obsessed with "stuff", but neither my family nor my friends are really materialistic people.
I'd say your lists are probably accurate, except for some reason I want the UK in teir 1. Japan too.
I guess i put them in no 2 because they seem to have more of an appreciation of culture (although plenty in the UK and Japan do not). Japan still has a lot of cultural traditions that seem to outweigh pure monetary gain, although maybe it's a romanticised view. Yes, there would be a good argument for putting them in no 1 too, or 2 respectively.
I guess i put them in no 2 because they seem to have more of an appreciation of culture (although plenty in the UK and Japan do not). Japan still has a lot of cultural traditions that seem to outweigh pure monetary gain, although maybe it's a romanticised view. Yes, there would be a good argument for putting them in no 1 too, or 2 respectively.
I agree. That's why I was on the fence with those two.
Brazilian culture should be in the second tier. They are a super materialistic culture. There is an obsession with having certain name brand items and they fork over tons of money to have the latest iPhone, Nike's, etc...they place a lot of importance on this like the Koreans and the Japanese.
The most materialistic countries would be China, Japan, South Korea... most Asian countries are very materialistic, that's why LV, Gucci etc are so big there.
I have no objections to my country being ranked in tier 1.
There is no dispute about that at all.
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