Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Wealth?

by Stephanie Brail

I have mixed feelings about the current popularity of The Secret. On the one hand, that the mainstream media are now covering what would used to be fringe is good for all of us who are working to change consciousness on the planet.

On the other, I find the basic message to be somewhat materialistic and simplistic in nature. Yet, there seems to be this rising trend of people interested in what is called the "Law of Attraction," people who are working to increase their personal wealth.

It's the wealth thing that kind of bugs me. In the past, I might not have even said that so loudly, for fear that my so-called "negative belief" about wealth would repel it away from me. But I don't buy that reverse fear-mongering anymore. I can be critical without the walls of Jericho falling upon me.

Here's the thing. I consider that anyone here who is capable of reading this from their home computer is already prosperous.

I consider that anyone in America with a home (however modest) and running water is prosperous.

Have a car? You are richer than most people on the planet.

Have an iPod? What luxury you live with every day and you don't even appreciate it.

Have a new change of clothes to wear every day? Wow, how lucky you are.

This might sound to be completely counter to some of the work I do, considering I created a Reiki system called Money Reiki and I even offer prosperity audio on my sound healing website.

But my intention is not to get people wrapped up in money. It's to help free them from money, so that they can be the lightworkers they are supposed to be on the planet.

Money Reiki, in particular, was an intuitive inspiration, where I saw quite clearly that the money system on the planet was broken.

That's right, broken.

The money system, as it has been set up, and the energy surrounding it, has been geared to reward the unscrupulous, the ruthless, and the exploitative.

This is why strippers have an easier time making money than teachers do.

This is why major corporations have no qualms harming the environment or abusing workers in sweatshops.

What I saw, quite clearly, was the the energy of money needed to be transmuted so that it would be easy for lightworkers to make money, and hard for the not-so-light workers. We shouldn't have struggling artists on the planet. We should have struggling day traders.

How does this relate to our obsession with wealth?

Here's what I think.

I think that people are obsessed with wealth because they are caught up in a horrible system, one that is at its core bad and designed to penalize people and trap them in jobs and situations that aren't for their highest good.

Who on earth designed a system whereby everyone needs to worry about the following each and every month like clockwork?

-rent/mortgage payments
-car payments
-car insurance
-heat
-electricity
-food
-taxes
-health insurance
-life insurance
-prescription medications

...the list goes on.

A lot of people aren't happy with their jobs. They aren't happy being chained to their desk 40+ hours per week, but they have to, because they are caught up in this system.

And so, while most Americans are extremely prosperous compared to 99% of the world, they are probably also unhappier than much of the world.

Sure, we have wide screen plasma TVs in high-definition, but we also don't have a lot of free time or room in our lives to explore our spirituality and creativity more.

Because of this void, Americans are grasping at the one thing they are taught will fix the stress in their lives: More money. Enter memes like the Law of Attraction and movies like The Secret.

What we really need, however, is to step back and look at the big picture. How can we change the system so that we can live the American Dream without stressing ourselves out so much?

How can we create a culture where we don't need two incomes just to barely survive with a family?

How can we create more flexibility and joy in work, so we aren't working 60-80 weeks (and weekends) with hardly any vacation at the end of it all?

These are the questions we need to answer.

Otherwise, to just personally focus on manifesting an extra $2,000 for yourself is like putting a small bandaid on a gaping, gushing wound.