I think about this a lot. I agree with EVERYTHING you said here. At best, I think of manifesting as a part of our spiritual mastery (again, AT BEST, because there are a ton of factors involved, including privilege, as you pointed out) of what we pull in from the Divine and birth into the world.

I definitely have a long way to go in this - and also have a lot of privilege that I must acknowledge. I can relate to the money and love examples, though, for sure, that you mentioned.

I often wonder how I manifested paying off my loan, buying a new (to me) car, and buying a house. I was living on a poverty-level salary and managed to do that, somehow. I think so much of that was determination and pure magic - like timing and my soul contract and all of that.

Now my salary is half of that previous salary, LOL, and I think everyday about how to manifest my old salary (which seems like a lot to me now). I have such deep-rooted issues around deserving and worth and value... It's a lot to examine and I'm constantly working on it. I long for the day I put the "buying a house" manifestion mojo behind "earning a real salary." LOL.