squalid cash interpretation

[passengerman]

Hi everyone;

What does the bold phrase mean?

- "The moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess success. That—with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word success—is our national disease."

(William James, letter to H. G. Wells)

 

[owlman5]

"Squalid cash interpretation put on the word success" means that it is common and squalid for people in this country to believe that the only success is wealth. James is criticizing the "moral flabbiness" of people who don't value anything but money.

 

[passengerman]

Many thanks owlman5