From the book "Money and Class in America", Lewis Lapham discusses his feelings of discontentment towards modern American perceptions of what truly makes one happy. And that money can buy one anything: clothes, cars, prestige, even happiness. In this United States of Exploitation, "money is the currency of the soul." As Lewis Lapham states, "money means so many things to us - spiritual as well as temporal - that we are at a loss to know how to hold its majesty at bay." In America, money is the basis of power and majesty, commanding respect and listeners with its green and black inked clout. Yet to other countries and cultures "the American devotion" would be looked upon as "sterile cupidity" or "a form of insanity."
             In the United States, rich people are made celebrities - books and TV shows are devoted to them. Why else would we hold the rich, whether they are actors, businessmen or politicians on a jeweled pedestal? They have what we as blinded comrades' desire and believe in. No, we are not "greedier" or "less intellectual" than our friends across the sea, we just cannot value anyone who cannot have the funds for the lifestyle that we lust for. "Money means so many things to us." And it is not simply the paper bills wadded in our pockets or the fine jewelry and possessions from which we obtain our pride. The real irrationality of "America's faith in money" is our "use of money as the currency of the soul." As we vainly reside in our "bottom line(s)" we overlook what is verily "the true and the beautiful."
             It's accurate to presume that wealth has developed into a top priority to the citizens in America. Even though wealth is not only object that drives Americans, it seems to make persons who have it more than just rich. Anybody who has attained money is treated with more respect than an average
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