Below is a story apparently found at Jimmy John’s. I have adapted it for grammar and style from Mike Geronsin’s Pitchfever Music Academy Blog. I like this story. Makes you think.
An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.” The American then asked the Mexican why he didn’t stay out longer to catch more fish. The Mexican replied that he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife Maria, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, señor.”
The American scoffed. “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and, with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA, and eventually NYC, where you would run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But señor, how long would this all take?” The American replied, “15-20 years.”
“But what then, señor?”
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich – you would make millions.”
“Millions, señor? Then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire – move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play guitar with your amigos.”
Very nice story. Everything goes back to what it was! Besideds, if he fishes just enough then the resource is going to support his whole life. But if he is greedy then he may end up destroying the resource, and may end up worse.
If everyone was just like the fisherman, then we’d still be in the stone age…
Perhaps, but what is necessarily bad about that? Simplicity is happiness. Greed ultimately makes you and everyone else agitated.
Division of labor is one thing, but pursuing something with capitalistic interest is a whole ‘nother issue.
This is proof that money doesn’t bring happiness.
but if he just stays a fisherman, he makes no meaningful impact on society and thus, his life is almost meaningless. Obviously, theres the argument that since he arrived at the same place he originally was at, but dont all human beings end up the same place, in the grave, anyways? thats why human life needs to have a meaningful impact on society, and see past your own desires.
if the mexican fisherman does as is advised, his life’s worth will be as much as if he had not been born, and be yet another random person that no one knows, and at the end of the day, it will be as if he had never existed.
This story is nice and very idealistic, but its backwards anti-civilization. The reason human society has progressed so far is the shunning of the individual, and mass contributions to society as a whole. living just to bring yourself pleasure is an ultra-shallow lifestyle.
raising a good family isn’t a meaningfulo impact on society? thats the best impact one can have on the world is raising good kids. is being in the stone age a bad thing? is the world today really better than it was before? its only been in recent years when this whole idea of helping everyone and all that has come up. for the longest time, people did enough to survive. the 20th century comes and people change their ways and we get the atom bomb, global warming, dwindling resources, and two world wars.
and just because someone isnt the CEO of a multinational company, that doesnt mean they dont have a good impact on the world.
hear hear!