1) I will choose cars as an aspect of U.S. culture. From the ideological perspective the car is viewed as a means of transportation from point A to point B. The car is also seen as a turning point in many lives, a rite of passage. It is also culturally accepted as the number one means of travel, which justifies it's use. The car can also unite a group of people together through carpooling.

A car in the materialistic viewpoint is a form of social status, wealth, and power. If you drive an older Volkswagen you will probably be viewed as less wealthy through the materialistic approach. On the other hand driving a Mercedes can create the illusion that you are wealthy according to the materialistic approach. We have the concept that people are what they drive, this is materialistic.

2) I think in the U.S. our materialistic approach offers the best explanation. I believe we view everything in the have and have not idea. Although our ideals may play a part in the things we do ultimately our material needs control our uses and decisions. Even our social groups rely on the use of material possessions to determine who belongs. In the India society I think materialism plays a large role, but their use of cows falls under the idealist approach of survival. Having more cows provides a higher level of status, but since there is such a shortage of cows for farms, I see a cow as a necessity not a material approach.