Throughout this society we have many different meanings of word rich. Rome is rich with ancient ruins. The Mona Lisa is rich with artistic value. The Walton family is extremely rich. The last sentence is what many people hope and dream about. What is the meaning of rich? You can ask people what rich means to them, but you will find many different answers. I believe being rich is not just having material wealth, but also having inner richness that lasts beyond money and worldly possessions. Some may think rich is having cars they don’t need, and having houses they don’t need. Different people, different meanings, but what does rich really mean? If you look in the dictionary you will find seven to eight different definitions of the word rich. The one definition that is the driving force in this day and age, states that rich is “having abundant possessions and especially material wealth.” I think most people strive for this. With this kind of rich every other meaningful thing in life seems to come together, you can buy any car you want, any house you want, and even any girl you want; but what is life if you only strive for material possessions? I strive to be rich in personal values, family traditions, and most importantly rich in my heart. Television has many examples of the stereotypical rich person. On one channel there may be Oprah Winfrey who in the past two years has passed the $1 billion net worth mark, and on another channel Bill Gates, who has for the last eight or so years been the richest person in the United States. Our world is full of rich people; sometimes we fail to realize it. For instance King Mswati III is the sole ruler of Swaziland, Africa, the last monarchy on this earth; he has rich traditions that extend beyond the stereotypical rich. Saudia Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and his family have been the richest family in their country for the better half of a century. On the other side of this you have basketball stars who are not billionaires but none the less, rich. Players like Shaquille O’Neil, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant are among the few who demand they also be recognized as being rich. In every walk of life we have different kinds of rich. In the ghetto and other predominantly black communities in the United States rich people are called “hood rich”. This type of rich is based solely on material possessions. You may see people wearing sporting apparel, current urban clothing and gangster colors, all of which have no real value. In the suburbs you have your middle-class families who have nice family cars like Mercedes Benz, and BMWs; they also have nice houses, but often don’t call themselves rich compared to superstars, but are rich with family goals and values. After recognizing these two meanings of rich you have to acknowledge the extremely rich, which include people like Donald Trump, Michael Dell, and Martha Stewart who have to ability to buy whatever their heart desires. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get rich-quick theory of life.” To this day this quote is still the driving force that is destroying America. People need to realize that the way to truly be rich is to cherish what they have and not focus their life on just getting money. People shouldn’t base their whole life on the sole purpose of making money and having material possessions, but should take into consideration being rich with other values that that can take them further in life than merely money and material possessions. The need to be rich is the cause of many problems that exist in America today. America has many young people who are falling into the get rich fast trend. On our streets we have drug dealers who are trying to make a quick dollar by selling drugs to our young people. We have young African-American males in many inner city communities concentrating on just sports instead of reading and writing thinking maybe they will play in the NBA right after high school, and become a fast millionaire, the odds of this happening are against them. Young Americans see the rich and famous people on television, on the streets, on the Internet and in the clubs. They fail to realize that all the nice cars, fancy clothes and big houses do not come from easy money but from long and hard work. Throughout time, the definition of rich has not changed. We will always have people who need to be rich. People who are rich by the number of cars they have, and people who are rich by the number of children they have. You and only you will have to ask yourself and determine what rich really means to you. You may be surprised what you come up with.