For Some People, Less is More

[james.hendrickson]

Hey Guys,

I found this on another forum and wanted to post it here. The perspective on wealth accumulation is interesting.

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A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. The American tourist standing nearby complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go to the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs … I have a full life.”

The American interrupted. “I’d like to give you some advice. I’m a manager with GE, have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you! If you start fishing longer every day, you can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the large boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on, until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants, and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterward? That’s when it gets interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that, you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking with and enjoying your friends!”

— Bernstein, Josh. Digging for the Truth. Gotham Books (Penguin), NY; 2006. Page 17.

[TexasHusker]

Hey Guys,

I found this on another forum and wanted to post it here. The perspective on wealth accumulation is interesting.

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A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. The American tourist standing nearby complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go to the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs … I have a full life.”

The American interrupted. “I’d like to give you some advice. I’m a manager with GE, have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you! If you start fishing longer every day, you can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the large boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on, until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants, and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterward? That’s when it gets interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that, you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking with and enjoying your friends!”

— Bernstein, Josh. Digging for the Truth. Gotham Books (Penguin), NY; 2006. Page 17.

While that's a neat story, there is hyperbole aplenty on both ends of that spectrum.

No one is able to catch a few fish and meet the daily needs of his family. And he's living a hand-to-mouth life in his little village that has no similarity whatsoever to the educated man's. And while both may be happy, the families of both men are paying tremendous tolls for their irresponsibility. The poor man is being irresponsible by not providing a better future for his family. The rich man is so obsessed with obtaining material possessions that he is likely neglecting the relationships in his family.

Both examples are abhorrent.

I have a brother-in-law who lives like the poor Mexican. Living hand-to-mouth, drinking beer, surfing porn, living the good life. Meanwhile, their electricity gets cut off with regularity, their dogs die of tick infestation because he's too broke or too lazy to take the poor things to the vet, no college fund, no home equity, and a couple of junker cars. One kid died at 23 from a drug overdose. The next one is well on his way, already an alcoholic from drinking with his dad.

[~bs]

like anything else, there needs to be balance. It is hard to be truly happy in the short and long term if you don't make enough money and put aside for retirement.

It's hard to be truly happy in the sort and long term if you're working all the time, sacrificing personal and family. You may have a ton of money at the end, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be happy.

I think if the story included a "middle of the road" guy, most people would find that to be most appealing. Of course that story isn't as "fun".