Society's Obsession With Material Wealth

Fair warning: Ok, I know I said I was gonna write this about superficial beauty, but if I did that it would make me a hyppocrite. So I changed the subject matter. This isn't short, and I sound like a lawyer, but it proves that I have some amount of intelligence...

I stand in firm negation of society's obsession with material wealth under the criterion of reducing judgementalism and the value of individual liberty. I negate the above for the following contentions: Material wealth reveals little about a person's true character, material wealth can only be used to measure one's financial gain and no gain of any other kind, and material wealth increases the societal isolation of certain classes, races, and peoples.

Contention One: Material wealth reveals little about a person's true character.
Although one can assume much from just seeing the way another dresses or certain posessions another has, they cannot truly measure another's charcter simply from the material objects he has. Society's unfortunate obsession with having the latest and greatest material items increases the tendency with the society for people to be extremely judgemental of each other. Although judgementalism as a whole cannot be completely annhialated from social interraction, it can be reduced. As such, my criterion is supported.

Contention Two: Material wealth can only be used to measure one's financial gain and no gain of any other kind.
Material wealth is simply a display of how much money one has. Within this point, it must be said that branding has a huge impact upon the value of material items. Designer items are no better than generic items in structure and quality, but have higher value simply because of the brandname on them. However, one could have all the designer items in the world and still be unhappy. Finances are one ultimately insignificant thing a human can gain in their lifetime, however happiness and self-actualization cannot be measured in material wealth.

Contention Three: Material wealth increases the societal isolation of certain classes, races, and peoples.
It has become evident, especially within the current generations, that many of the social isolations within public institutions (i.e. school, the workplace, suburban neighborhoods, etc.)are wealth-based. This is tragic and shallow by humanity's standards. As I have made quite clear in my previous contentions, wealth should not be used as a judging apparatus, nor should it be seen as a measure of a person's character or morality. These judgements increase the isolation of the middle and lower classes, races which are steriotypically seen as less wealthy, and peoples who are not materially blessed. Under my criterion and value, this is a negative effect of society's obsession with material wealth.

To sum up this case, it must be said that a man's character should be measured by the moral gain in his life, and not the financial gain. Society's obsession with material wealth is harmful to social welfare, and must therefore be negated.