The political organization of a typical commercial culture was designed in such a way that the government is submissive to commercial enterprises and the economic elite in the state. The economic elite comprises directors of large corporations and the have a lot of influence in governance and policy formulation in such a state. The economic elite creates big business organizations that are actually immortal in nature. This typifies them as to be good examples of the corporatization process in such a society. Wealth and property are created by institutions and laws that favour the economic elite in society. This society is also associated with high capitalization whereby the capitalists create an impression that life is all about making money. This shows clearly that laws do not have a lot of importance or impact on the economic elite because they have dominance over the other people in the society. The style of leadership of the capitalists is opposed by the progressive and populists movements who champion the wishes of the majority in the society. Commodification is an important characteristic of commercial culture. Economically a commercial culture is characterized by well-organized markets. In the markets whereby there is the free exchange of factors of production such as land, capital and labour. This means that free trade prevails in society. The government protects the right of individuals to own property. In this culture, the material well being of individuals depends on factors such as access to capital, land and jobs in the state. The business world is characterized by a number of risks that are shared by everybody in the market.
Gains from businesses are highly concentrated in the business environment and it is clear that people have less control over their daily life as it is influenced by many factors. This is an example of externalization that is characteristic of the Roman republic.
In this type of society the majority who belong to the lower strata like the small scale businessmen, peasants and workers suffer a lot while the minority few live lavishly.
A look at the sociological features of the society reveals that still, the economic elite has a big say in social affairs with the large social power they hold in the state. The majority of the people in the society are economically disadvantaged and they live in poverty as compared to the few capitalists who have economic power because of their economic advantages.
The art and literature of the economic elite are unpopular in society. Through art and literature, the capitalist authority is challenged by the populists.
In science and technology, the ideologies of the economic elite do not feature in the scientific world of society. The imperialist’s ideas and thoughts are common in business and the military where they seem to have a lot of influences on state affairs.
Commercialized states like the roman republic have one characteristic economic problem of inequality in terms of ownership and access to resources. This is evident in the unequal distribution of basic human needs such as water, food and shelter. Some people are in possession of more than enough of these needs while others have nothing in their possession. The mentioned features of the Roman Empire show that it was indeed a good example of commercial culture.
The new Egyptian empire is a good example of an imperial culture because of a number of features shown by the empire. To begin with, politically such an empire was characteristic of the centralized power system. This was demonstrated by one ruler who centralized power. The ruler rose to power because of the associated influence amongst the elites in the society or through heredity. The elites exercised control over land and the associated forced labour that was used in agriculture. This ruler dominated all the aspects of the people. He created bureaucracies in the empire and even was instrumental in the writing of the law that enabled him to exercise complete authority and control over religion and the aristocrats. Therefore is clear that in the imperialist empire of Egypt, there was no separation between the state and the religion since the rulers exerted their control over religion.
There was also urbanization that characterized the early states in such a manner that they were developed around trade areas. They mainly served the purpose of conquering and acquisition of new states.
Economically the empire was self-sustaining with agriculture being the main activity. Therefore it is characteristic that the Egyptian new empire as an example of an imperialist state was agriculture intensive. Land as a factor of production was under the control of the elites in the society.
The agricultural intensive state was also characterized by the redistribution of surplus. Most of the people were subjected to forced labour so as to help the state gain from agriculture. The new Egyptian empire was also involved in commercial agricultural activities with cash crops being cultivated and sold alongside surplus. Commercial agriculture was mainly for the purpose of expanding the empire to other regions. This is a good example of economic expansionism that is characteristic of imperial states.
Social stratification is another characteristic feature of an imperialist culture that was evident in the new Egyptian empire. The society was divided into various ranks starting with the priests and nobles occupying the top position while the slaves and peasants occupying the lowest class of people in such a society. The elite in the society exploited the poor and the disadvantaged for instanced through forced labour to sustain agricultural activities such as irrigation. While being forced to work they were not paid wages. This was an indication of a problem in the socio-economic aspect of this imperialist society. There was also debt slavery in this society whereby the slaves or the peasants had to depend on their loads for subsistence and hence they could not avoid getting into debts.
There is also the feature of ritualistic religion that is dominant in the imperialist state and present in the new Egyptian empire. With this religion, rulers became gods or representatives of gods and they were even offered sacrifices by the people.
Art and literature in this society were dominated by the elites. Features of Egyptian art such as temples were created by the elites in the society for their own selfish benefits. The elite art and overall culture were influential amongst the commoners in the society to such an extent that they emulated their etiquette and other aspects of the culture.
In conclusion, it is vital to mention that the new Egyptian empire represented an imperialist state and culture in its entire outlook.