Michael Phelps, the heroic swimmer from the 2008 Olympics, apparently has been smoking some marijuana lately. Let’s compare his situation to the average American’s. Phelps has a high-paying job doing something that he loves, millions of dollars in endorsement revenue just in the last few months (source), and his own charitable foundation. All of this has been achieved at the age of 23. Phelps has made money so fast he probably didn’t have time to invest it in the stock market, so we can be fairly certain he isn’t depressed about his personal finances.
Joe Typical American, by contrast, is about 35 years of age. His Olympic gold medal count is zero. He is probably overweight, if not obese. Unless he works for the government or in health care, he is unemployed or worried about being unemployed. He probably didn’t enjoy his job that much when he was employed. His retirement savings have been confiscated by the Wall Street bonuses of 1995-2007. His future earnings have been confiscated by the Wall Street bonuses of 2008-2015 (to be paid out of TARP and other taxpayer funds, which will inevitably result in debt).
If Phelps needs to smoke dope, what do the rest of us need to get through the next decade or two?
[On an unrelated note, a few readers pointed out that Phelps was convicted of drunken driving four years ago, shortly after winning 8 gold medals, and the world didn’t get its panties quite as twisted. Driving a monster SUV and running the risk of killing someone isn’t as exciting as inhaling some marijuana.]
Soma?
I remember being 23 and thinking I had figured out life. Ha! That was only the beginning of realizing I didn’t know that much about life after all. I cannot even begin to count or recount the disappointments that showered down upon me soon afterward.
I do remember being disappointed with people and their hypocrisy. Perhaps Michael Phelps is feeling the same way? If you were him, how would you know who to trust? How could you tell if someone genuinely wanted to be your friend of if they were just seeking publicity, fame, attention, or money, or some of all of that, if not all of that.
I don’t blame Michael Phelps for smoking weed. I have read statistics that say 40% of all USA citizens have done so. Myself included. Been there, done that, moved on. I am none the worse for wear.
Good luck to MIchael Phelps as he attempts to deal with the problems having too much money can cause. That is the opposite problem to what many of us are facing now, that’s for sure.
Don’t get me started on the devaluation of my home, my retirement savings, my children’s college funds and how my expenses are rising at the same time. It is enough to make me fill out the application to move to Canada. I hear there is only a two year wait.
Samantha
Um, maybe he was just hanging out at a party? “Dealing with life”? I mean, has no one ever been 23 years old at a party before?
I do think that his action was boneheaded from the POV of someone in his position, potentially losing all those corporate endoresements, etc. But a 23yo smoking weed at a party? I can’t imagine much less of a non-news item.
No one I know has even commented on this story. I tend to think the media is making a big deal and no one else.
I agree that the story has been blown out of proportion, but not for the same reasons you all do. Last year, while the Beijing Olympics were going on, I was quite amused to see my American co-workers, professors, etc get so excited about Phelps “beating” records by negligibly small margins. After Lance Armstrong, all those baseball players, the track athletes, have consistently been proven to have used performance-enhancing drugs, I find it amazing that people still believed Phelps to be squeaky clean.
I would expect the general public to hold such views, but not my colleagues, since the majority of them work in biotech, and protein engineering in particular! If an athlete gains as much stature as Phelps has, is that much of a stretch to think that he cannot hire a lab to modify a protein or substance so that it can evade the usual detection mechanism? Given that these athletes earn millions, it makes perfect economic sense.