To possess riches is to have a right to say how they will or will not be used. To use riches, on the other hand, is to cause them to be consumed or to be transferred to others in exchange for something we desire. The difference between possession and use immediately becomes clear when we think about how we sometimes use and control the use of riches we do not own, as when we influence the decisions of those who do own them. It’s possible to use or consume goods we do not own, and it is possible to own what we do not and perhaps cannot use.
