This is my understanding as well. I think the attitude of "these money-grubbing Americans don't care about history or poetry" comes from people who (fortunately, I don't begrudge them this) live in wealthier societies than the US (I obviously don't mean GDP or anything like that, but real societal wealth). It's basically a "let them eat cake" attitude from somebody out of touch with how harsh life in the US really is if you're not in the top quintile of income or wealth.