Wealth often wins out over health. Have you seen the ESPN magazine poll of high school football players, parents, coaches and trainers regarding their attitudes toward head injury? The players are the biggest obstacle to handling concussions in a way that will ensure their well-being. In response to the question “Is a good chance of playing in the NFL worth a decent chance of permanent brain damage?” nearly 45% of the players responded “yes.” The article quotes one highly recruited player as saying, “It’s a health or wealth question. I choose wealth, and I bet lots of other players will too.”
Though I was initially shocked by this poll, on reflection I should not have been surprised. This is just one particularly poignant example of the way that materialism has ascended to the pinnacle of our cultural values. Perhaps we aren’t so different from these high school athletes. We can point to common examples that demonstrate that we value the accumulation of wealth over our health. We work too many hours, sleep and exercise too little, and brag about it as if this demonstrates our importance. Probably most of us spend our time, energy and focus on work in ways that compromise our health. As a quick self assessment, did you exercise enough this week? Or were you too busy working to get to it?