The Taunter and the Taunted

I was trying to explain the concept of envy to some students yesterday and used various examples, one of which was the unfortunately frequent robbing of NBA players. Robbery is one of those occurrences that happens too often if it happens even once. It’s a peculiar illness in our society of haves and have nots. People hate theft in theory but I’m learning that even people as young as 14 say they wouldn’t return a wallet full of cash to the owner if the wallet had a driver’s license.

I’ve envied people, specifically teammates or friends who got more attention than me in high school. To a degree, my envy felt natural, naturally selfish, but natural nonetheless. It always felt venomous when envy crept into my thoughts because it was customarily followed by an anger chaser that led me to treacherous thinking. Envy is why people rob NBA players at gunpoint. Antoine Walker, former NBA player, was a victim on two separate occasions along with former center Eddie Curry. And I’ve heard of one friend in the NBA being set-up and narrowly escaping. Steve Smith, wide receiver for the New York Giants is also reported to have been robbed at some point. Envy is rampant.

But I wonder how much of a role taunting plays in the transfusion of envy into society’s blood stream. This is not to say that anybody deserves to have their life threatened. The operative word in “Violent Crime” is Crime. Firearms are used to protect or assail and certainly robbery denotes the latter. A natural suspicion arises in me, however, when I consider the obsession with prestige and fortune. I’m almost inclined to think that fortune wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the temptation to parade it in front of the overwhelming majority of the impoverished and dejected world.

An article in automaticfinances.com stated the following:

• By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.
• Within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke.

If these stats hold true, obscene amounts of money are being wasted and/or mismanaged and chances are that some of the fleeting wealth took to the sky via ostentatious displays that say, “look at my stacks.” I’m reminded of just how desperate a world we live in when I hear of home invasion robberies that take the lives of athletes like the late Sean Taylor, formerly of the Washington Redskins. I’m reminded to be careful of my surroundings, compassionate toward the disenfranchised and critical of…myself so as not to taunt.