Materialism

"The idea of accumulating "stuff" must have hit early on in the evolution of humans. Anthropologists tell us we were herders, and [probably] harem-based, and both of these imply possession. Intelligence may have evolved so we could evaluate trades. Anyway however it happened, it is now true; we are materialistic. Any human society which has attempted to deny this has failed, and the human society which is most successful is the United States, which celebrates materialism and features it as a core value. One of the first things that must happen to transform a failed state is some sort of rule of law, including some rights to personal possession."
-Ole Eichhorn