To survive in this system, you have to be greedy and selfish. Everything, including non-physical constructs and relationships, becomes dead things that must be acquired. This develops the attitude of defining oneself through all these hoarded things. This creates the mode of existence of having; you identify yourself through what you have. Everyone thinks this way because the system doesn't allow it any other way. So you envy those above you who have more than you and fear those below you who want what you have. This leads to people mistrusting each other and distancing themselves from all their fellow human beings. We become alienated from each other, as we only see in others what they can give or take from us. In the mode of existence of having, the only thing that counts is appropriation and the unrestricted right to keep what you have acquired for yourself. The ideal is always more, which is why you will never be satisfied with what you already have. One must learn to demand peace and bliss rather than wealth; to plan and build for the long term, with the goals of community and solidarity. This is what the mode of existence of being is all about. Its highest values are giving, sharing, and loving. In the mode of existence of being, you define yourself by what you are, what you can do, and what you do. The alienated self must be transcended, and the almost lost interpersonal connections rebuilt. In order to be able to eliminate the deeply rooted antagonism between each other, one must eliminate its origin, the struggle for all things, the system. Not only must the individual be awakened from his delusion, but the entire system of greed must be revolutionized in its hypnotic promises. The text is based on the book To Have or to Be by Erich Fromm, 1979.