American Materialism - Hardcoverby Jeff Bergner (Author) Despite good intentions, American government policies often fail. One major reason is that they are almost always predicated on the idea that the (only) way to change peoples' behavior is to change their economic circumstances. This kind of economic determinism was originally the product of Marxist thought. Practicing Marxists like Lenin and Mao, however, did not adopt this view in practice. They employed ideas, education and