I think many people don't really understand that $$$ is not the root of all these problems. It is the greed, pride and stupidity in people that are causing miseries to people around them and themselves. This is especially true for people who are not used to having wealth. When they achieved a little wealth, greed takes hold. They want more and more. With wealth comes pride. They think they are one up on others and start to look down on those worse off than themselves. When they see neighbors having this and that, they also want those things. They are stupid when they don't know how and when to draw the line between having enough and having needless excess.

But they are many many rich people who are wise. They don't work themselves to the bone to achieve their wealth. They let their money work for them. When you are on the right track, your money will grow while you and your loved ones can enjoy the good things in life. The rich have choices and by and large they do more good (charitable acts).

Reading from the many posts here, I can see that quite a number of people are on the right track. They invested early and consistently and are now reaping the rewards of passive incomes that are more than adequate to cover their expenses giving them options to take it easy or work because they want to, not because they need to. On the other, those posters who kept saying money or wealth is causing problems are those who haven't achieve their wealth.