"Writing blogs like novels..."

1. The "American Dream" has meant two different things to me in my life span.  Growing up, I always believed that the "American Dream" was an idea or concept that people from troubled countries with poverty or unequal rights would travel to the United States in order to run their own business to make money.  I do not know why I thought they had to run their own business, maybe it was an influence from movies I had seen growing up, but for whatever reason I thought that the immigrant had to run their own business.  And with the idea of running their own business, the immigrant believed that they would have the equal rights of all other Americans because that was a part of the "American Dream."  After growing up and paying attention to today's society, the true meaning of the "American Dream" is being able to move into America without having to be worried that you (an immigrant) will not be able to find a job or you will not be given the same rights as everyone else because you can find and get a job and you will be given the same rights as everyone else.

2. In my mind, when I think of wealth I go straight towards thinking about a lot of money, whether it be actual money or the possessions in which you own.  For example, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's book The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is represented as a VERY wealthy man through the house that he lives, the car that he drives, and many other possessions.  So, if I were to define wealth, it would be: "having much more money or possessions than the normal man."  

3. All Americans view wealth and poverty differently.  For the most part, there are two different ways to view each of these.  For wealth it's either you desire to have as much as you can or you are fine with what you have.  For poverty it's either let's help the people who live in poverty or it's let me focus on me, myself, and I and my own wealth.  This is where people need to open their eyes and stop thinking about themselves for once.  Most people are caught up in their own messed up world that they don't look around and see what's wrong with everyone else's, especially the ones who live in places with poverty.  The ones who are focused on their own wealth do not bother to care about helping the ones who struggle to get even half of what the normal person has.  If more people open their eyes and realize how horrible poverty is and try to help make it better, everyone will be living a happy and fulfilling life.

4. My attitude towards wealth and poverty is very similar to what is stated above.  I believe that if there are just as many people focusing on fixing poverty as there are people trying to get wealthier, poverty would eventually come to an end.  There would be more ways for the homeless to get a job or a way of living and crime would tremendously drop.  There are so many more benefits to fixing poverty but it all starts with showing that you care and want to do something to help make a difference.  Even the smallest action can make a huge difference and an impact on somebody's life.