[mumblemumble]

I think that you've got to take American culture's Calvinist roots into account. In many pockets of American culture, especially historically but even now, the distinction between wealth and merit is fuzzy at best.

[spiralx]

Calvinist influence has been on the rise again in the US for decades, you can see it in the rise of the "prosperity gospel" in churches.

https://www.reformation21.org/mos/1517/creeping-calvinism