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Wealth in
Mainstream American Culture
and Dakota Culture
The dominant American culture and the Dakota culture define wealth in opposite ways. To most Americans, wealth is a measure of the value others place on the material goods that they own; for the Dakotas, wealth is defined as how many strong social ties one has.
For mainstream Americans who wish to be viewed as wealthy, it is imperative to hoard as many possessions as one can get his or her hands on. ... This has lead to some negative social effects, one of which is illustrated in this excerpt from Madonna’s song “Material Girl:”
They can beg and they can plead
But they cant see the light, thats right
Cause the boy with the cold hard cash
Is always Mister Right, cause we are
Chorus:
Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl
This excerpt describes a woman who is so focused on gaining material possessions that she rejects all possible lovers who don’t have enough money to satisfy her desire for wealth, an occurrence which is unfortunately not uncommon in mainstream America.
Approximate Word count = 972
Approximate Pages = 3.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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