There is one word in the English language which rises above all others as both the cause and effect of wisdom. I'll tell you about it with examples from my daughter, the government shutdown, and Tolstoy.
@dfadeyev had some excellent comments on this post (via Twitter):
Nice post, but the thesis can be turned around too: where fundamentalism has a foundation, moral relativism has none, and so...
as a result those without a strong philosophy seek structure and identity in other things, such as materialism you mentioned...
In this way, powerful shifts in values are unavoidable, but it does not mean that you should give them up to avoid the loss...
Rather that you have the strength for the transition should it be proven right and just - i.e. strong opinions weakly held...
Which is to say: fundamentalism and radicalism are not inherently bad, what's bad are weak minds who cannot handle them.