Great wealth requires great poverty. One cannot exist without the other.  
Americans exist in and perpetuate a world that is founded on layers and layers of what was originally religious, and humanistic and mechanistic assumptions - that humans are the ultimate creation, that humans can remake the world into a better place, that humans will eventually find answers to everything in the cosmos, etc. Just give us more time and a few more planets to plunder so we can form committees and brainstorm creative plans for "systems" and "processes" that will finally work for everyone, while continuing a system that only works for about 1 out of 5 people.  Humans are far to willing to invade another country, slaughter innocent people, and tell themselves that it's not really a war crime or murder, it's "keeping us safe," or "serving our country." We are a nation with an unshakable belief in the magical power of deciding the meaning of things, while ignoring the measurable reality of our actions.