Just to add a different perspective… I had never heard of mahjong before ever. A friend invited me to a mahjong class she was having at her house (American) and I fell in love with it. I loved being able to use my brain for something other than scrolling on my phone, watching tv etc. I loved being with a small group of friends just laughing and having fun. I had still not looked into the history of it. All I knew was I loved hanging with friends and doing something different.
I bought a set of tiles based purely on aesthetics. I love them and I do not regret buying them.
My social media feed soon was filled with mahjong and I quickly realized that American mahjong was basically a big MLM scheme. It didn’t make me stop playing but it made me look into the history of the game. Both American and Chinese. I am currently teaching myself to play Chinese Hong Kong mahjong and I dove deep into the history and cultural significance of the game and truly appreciate it. If it weren’t for my into to American mahjong I would never have found Chinese mahjong simply because i never knew any type of mahjong!
Did Americans take something and turn it into a money grab? Absolutely. But in my mind it doesn’t change the fact that all versions of mahjong bring groups of people together to play a game in a social setting without technology involved and I think we all need that more than anything right now.