Is Materialism Based on the Ability to See?

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum, and thought I 'd post this question since I have not read anything about this subject. Is materialism based on the ability to see?
I have wondered if blind people are materialistic at all, and if so, to what degree, and in what direction is their materialism based? I am more of an animal behaviorist and I know that people are not the only materialistic creatures. For instance the packrat collects all things that are shiny, as well as unique things that he comes across. A packrat’s nest is the animal version of well… people’s homes.
The fact that humans collect and have such reverence for gold has lead to the entire world banking system. Diamonds are also another example of sight induced materialism. Do blind people covet shiny things? I would appreciate your input, as I have read through some very well educated responses on several topics and find the contributions to be exciting. By the way, I am not a student in school- just a “pondering” type person.

blind people covet exactly that which anyone else would covet and for the exact same reason, they are people… underlying your question is the value others put on shiny things… if said blind person was covetous of things of value, yes they’d be shiny… why does stevie wonder wear rhinestones?

-Imp

Ok, so if the blind covet things of which people around them have placed value, then they are materialistic because of the same reasons the origin of materialism spawned- the attraction to “shiny things”. And while they cannot see the shiny things, they are forced to take other people’s word for the value placed upon the object. So theirs is a by-product of a visually based materialism, right?
Of course, I am using this very basic descriptor of "shiny things"in a rather basic way, but I guess it is a reflection of the very basic attraction in the first place. Considering an entire world banking system originated in the initial interest of early man’s interest/greed for “shiny things”. It is laughable that our banking system originated in the same interest as a packrat looking at a bottlecap… :smiley:
Of course an interesting question to ponder is the supposed society of an isolated and totally blind culture of people. Would their own materialism be placed upon things soft to the touch? Of course there is likely no answer to that suggestion as I have never heard of an isolated and totally blind society of people, but interesting to consider the direction in which that society would flourish when considering the subject of materialism. Perhaps their most valuable thing would be poetry, music, a good philosophical conversation? Sounds like an interesting idea for a movie actually.

perhaps

-Imp