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The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

thestorytellers.com

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Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#61

Post by raincole »

oatmeal1 wrote: post #24

I'd like an extended version of the story where the businessman realizes he's wrong, invites all his friends to give up their lives in the business-world and revert to subsistence living that provides freedom. Then society collapses because if everyone is doing the bare minimum, there isn't anything left over for basic government services.

The moral of story isn't you should be a fisherman or something. It's that you shouldn't change your career (that works for you perfectly) just because someone who looks successful told you so.

Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#62

Post by nicbou »

virtualwhys wrote: post #29

In a similar spirit there's Tolstoy's classic short story, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" [1] I'd start just before chapter V if you want to get right into it -- the ending is truly delicious, and quite inline with OP's story, enjoy. [1] http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/2738/

It was used by historian Anthony Beevor when talking about the German invasion of the USSR.

Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#63

Post by anonu »

nicbou wrote: post #54

People love to take this story apart. I always took the message as “stop when you have enough”. It’s a lesson about contentment. I have enough, and I turned my entrepreneurial spirit towards public good instead of revenue. I take days off when it’s sunny, and reintroduced play into my work. I am back to Paul Graham’s “do things that don’t scale”. I am dismayed by the amount of greed among people far wealthier than me…

Maybe it's not money that motivates some people? Money is just a marker of success in this game. The real achievement might be building a business or growing a product or out competing a competitor.

Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#64

Post by nicbou »

anonu wrote: post #63
nicbou wrote: post #54

People love to take this story apart. I always took the message as “stop when you have enough”. It’s a lesson about contentment. I have enough, and I turned my entrepreneurial spirit towards public good instead of revenue. I take days off when it’s sunny, and reintroduced play into my work. I am back to Paul Graham’s “do things that don’t scale”. I am dismayed by the amount of greed among people far wealthier than me…

Maybe it's not money that motivates some people? Money is just a marker of success in this game. The real achievement might be building a business or growing a product or out competing a competitor.

Money might just become a convenient metric, because it can be traded for whatever your other metrics are later.

In any case, the pursuit of money beyond meeting your own needs is more often than not destructive. I find that this story is a good reminder that you can have a financial goal beyond which you enter maintenance mode and focus on other things.

Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#65

Post by thathndude »

nicbou wrote: post #54

People love to take this story apart. I always took the message as “stop when you have enough”. It’s a lesson about contentment. I have enough, and I turned my entrepreneurial spirit towards public good instead of revenue. I take days off when it’s sunny, and reintroduced play into my work. I am back to Paul Graham’s “do things that don’t scale”. I am dismayed by the amount of greed among people far wealthier than me…

When folks are surveyed about what level of wealth would make them 10/10 happy, without variation, every wealth bracket reports back “double.” It’s a sickness.

Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#66

Post by rolisz »

bestouff wrote: post #25
FourthProtocol wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, apparently the story was conceived by a German, in which case the social system would catch him, provide the health care he needs, and when recovered he'd be back on that beach...

Anywhere in Europe actually.

Europe is big, made of many different countries, with very different policies on public health care and very different standards for that public health care. For example, in Romania (part of the EU!), the big cities usually have good hospitals, but if you're in villages or smaller cities, good luck! Also, to be able to benefit from free public health care, there's a list of conditions you have to meet, it's not available by default to anyone. The requirements are quite reasonable (be employed, be on maternity leave, be in school, etc.), But there are people who are not covered.

Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#67

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

late2part wrote: post #46
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody said that the fisherman is engaged in subsistence living. I'd also like a citation on the claim that "basic government services" require profit-making (and presumably taxation to go with it) that is substantively different than the fisherman's approach to life.

Please cite your assertion "Nobody said that the fisherman is engaged in subsistence living."

https://thestorytellers.com/the-businessman-and-the-fisherma...

Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#68

Post by its_bbq »

dbgev wrote: post #2

A few years later, the fisherman gets an expensive, debilitating disease and dies penniless and destitute and alone. But at least he had fun before that.

Better to enjoy your life before your debilitating disease than to be miserable up until your debilitating disease. The fisherman was going to die anyways.

Re: The businessman and the fisherman (1963)

#70

Post by s1mplicissimus »

thathndude wrote: post #65
nicbou wrote: post #54

People love to take this story apart. I always took the message as “stop when you have enough”. It’s a lesson about contentment. I have enough, and I turned my entrepreneurial spirit towards public good instead of revenue. I take days off when it’s sunny, and reintroduced play into my work. I am back to Paul Graham’s “do things that don’t scale”. I am dismayed by the amount of greed among people far wealthier than me…

When folks are surveyed about what level of wealth would make them 10/10 happy, without variation, every wealth bracket reports back “double.” It’s a sickness.

citation needed?
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