14. Please describe your reactions/ideas to the following quote: "He does not possess wealth, it possesses him."

I think that this quote means that money and greed control the world, everyone. People who have money do their best to keep it and make more profit. While people, who do not have money, try to do anything they can to obtain some of that lionized green paper. Fortunately we live in a capitalist society where doing everything possible to be wealthy is valid and it is not frowned upon. Wealth is the key to happiness, my parents decided to move to the United States to have a better life, which unconsciously means better jobs that lead to a stable economic life creating peace of mind and releasing the stress created by debt and other aspects of economy. Unfortunately, the worldwide economic crisis has destroyed the “American Dream”, which has as basis a better economic life. The American dream is the best example of being possessed by wealth. Immigrants overcome any obstacle in their way to the U.S. so they can send money to their family members who are still in the developing countries so they can have a better life. The possession of wealth is indoctrinated to us from birth; the mindset that more expensive is better has always been present, at least in my life, but, as I have matured mentally and I have created my own ideals, I have come to the conclusion that better lifestyle is not determined by how much money it costs. I have a house, I have a family and I have an education, while people with wealth sometimes lack the most important aspects of life like family, sometimes by unfortunate circumstances but sometimes because their greed has destroyed their empathy, they do not realize that not everyone has the same opportunities to succeed.