MONEY - The Root of Evil?
How obsessing over money can ruin a life

Photo Illustration by Cedric Smith | VOX Staff

By Cedric Smith | VOX Staff

Money over everybody!” My friend, Jeremiah*, always made it known: “Forget my friends; forget my family; forget school; forget it all. All I need is my money, and I’ll be happy.” Though I wished he were joking, I knew he was serious. Ever since he started living that out, I saw his downfall. He began to sell and use drugs, skip school and disrespect his mother. Eventually, he was expelled from school. As he saw it, drugs equaled quick money, and school equaled slow money or no money. The quicker he got it, the better he felt. We can judge him all we want, but when we think about it, Jeremiah is not alone in his lust for cash.

I, too, can relate to how the love of money causes problems. On Nov. 3, 1989, the day I was born, I was fortunate to have both of my parents present. Now, I’m finishing my senior year in high school without that privilege. Both of my parents are alive and well. And yes, I do live with two adults in my house. They just so happen to be my mother and grandmother —no dad. Not long after I was born, my father abandoned his responsibilities in my upbringing to maintain the life he was accustomed to. I am still in contact with him, but it seems that the more years pass, the farther apart we become.

His Obsession, My Misfortune
A recurring issue between my father and me is that, generally, if we aren’t talking about cash, we aren’t talking. My father had a habit of making and breaking promises. “I’m coming to your game tomorrow,” or “I’m coming to pick you up this weekend,” he would say. The one thing that stood out, especially to my mother, was when he would tell me he was going to pay for this or that. But he’d never come through. It got to the point where if I needed money, I didn’t call on him. I watched my mother struggle, along with my grandmother, to make sure I didn’t go without. My father, on the other hand, would call and ask if I was still playing ball — not inquiring, and possibly not caring, whether I had a decent pair of shoes on my feet. I would sit and watch my mother cry because she didn’t know if her next check would be enough to get groceries. Every time we talked about money, my father would quickly find some way to change the subject. Don’t get me wrong, I love my father, and deep down, I know he feels the same for me. However, I recognize that because of his obsession with money and his lack of commitment, he will never fit the title as “father” in my life.

All for the Money
The saying goes that money is the root of evil. Not! The love of money is the root of evil. Cash, mula, dinero, cheddar, dough, bread, the green — whatever you want to call it — society is going down the drain because we’re all about the benjamins. Companies cheat to get money. Factories destroy the environment to make it. And we, the new generation, are killing each other to have it. The same money we use to buy food, donate to charity and provide for our families causes people to take from the hungry, rob the unfortunate and kill our own blood. It’s not necessarily what we do with money, but what we do for the money that can make all the difference.

Rethinking Money
A recent study conducted by Kathleen Vohs, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota, revealed that participants who focused on money were more self-reliant, but they were also less likely to help others. I have learned that people should be careful how they attach themselves to their wealth. Obsession and greed tend to go hand-in-hand.

Closely behind, selfishness follows. Selfishness makes it so easy for a person to withhold a dollar from a man who barely has a shirt on his back, for people to buy so much food that it spoils in their houses when poor children are dying of starvation, for a child to sneak into his mother’s room and steal money from her purse to enjoy a day of shopping. And it’s what makes it so easy for a person to marry another for a paycheck and not love. Selfishness made my dad break his promises with me. Even when choosing a career path, I sometimes find myself aiming for jobs that will fill my pockets instead of focusing on my desire to be fulfilled. If we consider the consequences that accompany our lusts for cash, maybe we can prevent ourselves from giving in to its temptation. There’s no way we can live our daily lives without money, but we should be more cautious with how we approach it.

Cedric is a senior student-athlete at Tri-Cities High. He likes to eat … a lot.

* Names changed