There are many people in America, who have lot of money. They drive around in fancy cars, they purchase wealthy items, and they thrust themselves in public sphere. America must judge these people as both “good and wise,” regardless of their behavior. The theory that American “faith in money” has caused American people to grow love and a burning need to raise themselves above others in society and win the feeling of social superiority. Throughout this excerpt, Lapham refers back to the time periods and civilizations, where he compares it with America today. In one of his foremost statements, he said “...the current ardor of the American faith in money easily surpasses the degrees of intensity achieve by other societies in other times and places.”
