we all are according to corporations and the nature of capitlism, and cultural conditioning and brainwashing arent too different.
civilization is based on materialism/consumer/owner/hierarchy
one of the more radical books ive read is the story of B
that argues that an agricultural farming based, consumer based society is new and not necessarily the biologically sound way to live.
being a "consumer" is what will lead to our collapse or robotization.
ive often thought how is a culture spiritually advanced if it uses technology which is based of a materialistic thought pattern. maybe indigeneous people are actually more advanced in a spiritual sense than ET's with advanced tech.
an interesting notion that i dont hear people discuss. civilization breeds more misery conflict and pain than being in hunter gatherer tribe.
aborignies have been practicing that lifestyle for 40,000 years and will be here if we wipe ourselves out, so in the end what lifestyle is the smartest? one thats proved the test of time or one that causes untold suffering and could snuff itself out.
heres the book
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_B
-clark