Wish he’d said “greed” rather than materialism. To some extent we are all materialists (or behave as), but in some cultures greed is standard procedure.
In my travels in my state, I have encountered many people of a certain ethnic and cultural background. Won’t specify but I’ll say it is neither muslim nor melanin related. These folks are all, stress ALL, mindlessly greedy and dog-eat-dog in their approach to business. They exploit, lie (the expression comes to mind: “rather climb a tree and lie, than tell truth standing on the ground”) and swindle others whenever possible. They speak not for truth but for expedient results. They will say anything to get your trust, your money, your valuables, and some try to obtain their victims’ identities, too. To them, the world is a jungle and America is full of easy prey.
There are honest materialists, and then there are people whose behavior indicates generations of ghetto survival in their background.
They are scavenging in an overly tolerant, weak society here, like the barbarians against Rome. They come out of a looter culture, and lands where the strong and savage survive. They cannot be assimilated.
And the antidote? Fear of consequences.