The Greed Within Me

Most people have never heard of the name Vin Baker. He was an NBA player who played for 13 seasons and was an all-star 4 consecutive times. Moreover, he has made almost a $100 million through his playing career, which could be considered as financially set for years to come. As we were reading "A Measure of Restraint” in class this week, I could not help but think of Baker when Marie Curie's death was described such that "her wounds came from the same source as her power".  Just so we are on the same page, Vin Baker did not die. However, his struggle through life is relatable to Marie Curie's downfall. A man who was once on sports biggest stage, Vin Baker had it all until he was dangling on the edge of poverty. His bad spending habits on drugs and alcohol caused him to lose all his money and become a manager at Starbucks. Since then, he has got back on track and is now working on Fox as a basketball analyst. Diving deeper into the subject, money gets into people's head and causes them to make bad choices. At the high point of his life, Vin Baker lost everything because of the reputation and wealth he gained from being an NBA player. Why did he not make these bad choices before he got into the NBA? He did not have a strong authority in society, which lead him to make good choices by working hard to get into the NBA. The source of power does not influence someone until they reach a comfortable lifestyle. Once they reach the point of bottom tier, or receive "wounds", they will eventually return to reality. When Vin Baker had to settle for the big transition from an NBA player to a Starbucks manager, he finally let reality sink in. He knew he needed to do something to turn his life around because settling for an average lifestyle after being considered royalty as an NBA player is not what he worked for so long to achieve. Thus, when some people achieve their "source of power", it leads them to take the wrong path which brings them back to where the started or even worse.