America and materialism

"America is a very difficult place. It has democracy but this democracy is based on materialism. The people at the helm of affairs, the government, is steeped in materialism and that has seeped from top down into the mind-set of average Americans.
Americans love their money more than their children or their aging parents and even less their spirit. The root of the problem is their greed for money.
...if their desire for money is dissolved, automatically as a by-product their desire for their spirit will increase. They will respect their families and love their children and old parents, and if America works out, the rest of the world will follow."
(H.H.Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, Informal talk in Marathi, Cabella, Italy, 5/5/08)