I recently read an article (I’ll try to find it and post an edit to this reply) from a child psychologist that described how children instinctively set up situations to make someone, typically their parents, feel what they’re feeling. Of course, usually neither party understands that’s what is happening and misunderstandings and conflicts often arise from this behavior. I believe we continue to do this as adults and are completely unaware that we are doing so.

You are correct to point out the typical state of autopilot that we often run on, which opens the door for these instinctual behaviors to manifest. I believe we are far more susceptible to this in our modern world due to cognitive overload. We only have so much processing power in our brains and our society seems almost designed to overwhelm us so we continue to act according to instinct.

You are also correct to point out that money is just another form of energy exchange. It is not the root of all evil. It is the desire for power and control, the fear of having neither, that often accompanies the accumulation of wealth which I believe to be the root of our evil. Yet, as the AA’s and Jodie make clear, it is not our place to judge anything as evil. As you well point out, we must pause and not respond in kind, but rather transmute that heavy energy into something lighter, something more like love and acceptance. Something more like heaven and a little less like hell.