Not really. We don’t neglect the importance of artha and kama. The Veda too give some means for fullfilling artha and kama.There is not a single living person who does not recognize the importance of securities and pleasures. Artha and kama are recognized by everyone and that’s why we work for a living, build a home and want to enjoy those pleasures. What is not recognized to the same level is dharma, the necessity for rule of law, my ethical life, my understanding that good business is good ethics…these are not understood well. Therefore, spiritual literature highlights it. Moksha is something which very few people recognize although it is equally important. In fact, we consider it more important than the three others because everything I do is for the sake of fulfillment. Therefore, fulfillment becomes the most important thing. People recognize the need for success but don’t recognize the need for fulfillment. Therefore, Indian spiritual literature does spend a lot of time highlighting the need for moksha…Artha and kama are recognized and, therefore, not highlighted, dharma is recognized less and, therefore, spoken about more. Moksha is even less recognized and, therefore, highlighted even more. That’s a natural balance kept.
The guilt attached to the desire for earning money comes from our misunderstanding. Some middle-class people have grown up with it and some of it is also a result of the Victorian influence according to which a desire is wrong and sin. This has never been said in Indian writing. In fact, God has also been described as Kamarupa. In religious literature, Krishna also calls himself ‘the desire unopposed to dharma’. Therefore, desires have never been looked upon as wrong. Maybe some Victorian influence has crept into our thinking or maybe modern(non-traditional) Vedanta has presented desires as a problem. We never say desires are a problem, we say that God decided to manifest himself as the whole universe. In traditional literature, desires have never been looked upon as a problem. But, yes, this sort of thinking has seeped into middle-class morality to the extent that some people can’t accept the fact that they have desires.
The whole question of karma-yoga is based on a desire. If there is no desire, there is no need for action, and if there is no action then there is no karma-yoga. Karma yoga is a healthy attitude towards a desire and an action.