It's not an obsession, it's the realization that working for someone else, unless you are in a select few types of jobs, you will barely be able to afford your own home. Entrepreneurship is the only way out of that. There was no "need" for this obsession earlier because people could actually buy a decent house and have at least one kid, with decent health insurance. The cost of everything has sharply gone up, but wages have not, with the exception of a handful of industries. Not an obsession, its the only way to actually go beyond survival and thrive to some extent.