Jim Rogers of Texas A&M writes:

“I’m not as certain as you are that it’s generally true that ‘If there’s one thing that Americans want, it is to be rich.’  This is, presumably, an empirical question, and so my armchair observations are certainly not to be preferred to your own. Nonetheless, while there certainly are people who are desperate to become wealthy - you can feel it in them when in their presence - my own sense is that most Americans seek merely to be comfortable. Most, I ‘think,’ are happy with the house that they live in, with the car that they drive & etc. Contrary to the evangelical bugaboo that lots of folks make an idol out of their career (my suspicion is that we like to talk about that “sin” because it allows us to avoid talking about real sins) it seems to me that most parents spend lots of time with their kids, and with their spouses & etc. (Indeed, it seems to me that more people miss church for child- and family-related activities than they do for income-related activities.) That said, it could be that I travel in rarified circles (e.g., parents who travel a hundred miles so their children can participate in three-day swim meets in which they  watch their children swim competitively for maybe a grand total ten or 15 minutes over the weekend).”