If the point of American society isn't to care for each other and make things be

Primarily, the point of society is to ensure that, when you make something, no one can use or threaten violence to take if from you. Otherwise, our lives are much more about violence than making things, and we have much less stuff.

It would be nice if we were all saints. If we found fulfillment living by Marx's slogan "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need". But we're not.