They instilled a culture where debt equaled purpose and status—money became the primary focus of human existence.

From birth to death, they taught Americans how to act, how to love, what to fear, and which moral values to uphold. They instilled a culture where debt equaled purpose and status—money became the primary focus of human existence. It was a relentless pursuit that bred frustration, rage, anger, and crime—each one a key ingredient in their grand design, a volatile fuel for the machine. This was their conditioning. This was the buy-in they engineered from the very start. The scent of expensive cigars mingled with the stale heat of unspoken truths.