In this world we make a lot of assumptions. A lot of these assumptions are based on what we are taught and the way our culture views certain things. Essentially what the culture does is it prioritizes things. It considers certain things good and certain things bad, certain things high and certain things low, certain things successful and certain things unsuccessful. And we as individuals, because we live in the culture, are raised with these assumptions, and we buy into them. Now, the interesting thing about the word “culture” is, if you turn it around, it becomes “ure cult.” So, all of us throughout the world live in small cults, and each of these cults have their own rules and regulations and assumptions. In our culture — and when I say our culture, I’m talking about the Western culture, particularily in America — there are certain assumptions that are preeminent within the society. It’s better to be rich than to be poor. That’s probably one of the major assumptions within the society. It’s better to have things than not to have them. It’s better to be powerful than not to be powerful. It’s better to have titles than not to have titles. In other words, it’s a society which has, at least recently, been drenched with the position that accumulation is good.
