
Story of the Mexican Fisherman - ctingom
http://www.trackthetime.com/fun/story-of-the-mexican-fisherman
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Prrometheus
I hated this parable the last time I read it too. It’s sloppy. It’s based on
the false premise that there is no difference between a pauper lounging on the
beach and a millionaire lounging on the beach. However, the millionaire’s life
has a lot less risk. He has a longer life expectancy, and so do his loved
ones, because he can afford quality food and access to medical care. He lives
in sturdier dwellings that are more robust against storms. He can afford an
education for his children. He can help others who are in need. He can put his
money to use to build cool and interesting things.

The fisherman is one unexpected disaster away from death. He, his children,
and his wife are powerless in the face of a risky world. I suppose it is noble
that he is able to stay content when his children die of preventable diseases,
but I am sure he would rather be saved from doing so.

If the fisherman extended the effort suggested by the MBA, he wouldn’t be back
at square one as the parable suggests. Rather he would be in a new place, one
that I would find preferable.

Rubbish. Again.

~~~
gruseom
You're right, if one takes the parable literally. No doubt very few
subsistence fishermen would recognize themselves in the story.

But I suspect that, like most parables, this one isn't meant to be taken
literally. It's illustrating a psychological point, the folly of treating life
as a means to an end. There's great risk in devoting one's life to something
not for its own sake but because one assumes that, somehow later, happiness
will result.

I appreciate the parable because, like many people, I need to be reminded to
examine that assumption.

~~~
motoko
Personally, I prefer to redefine "success" to be whatever I already have, thus
at all times am I am a success!

~~~
kirubakaran
Well, success actually is the ability to be able to redefine "success" to be
whatever you already have. So, you succeeded there too.

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gabrielroth
Ah, those adorable happy poor people in less developed countries. So much time
to relax and enjoy life! Overfishing, consolidation in the fishing industry,
inadequate health care, rising grain prices (which in the past couple years
have caused tortilla prices to double), crime ... none of these could possibly
affect the happiest people in the world, the fishermen of Mexico! Let's all
move down there and buy fishing boats! Surely there are enough fish to feed
all our families, forever!

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Darmani
This is an adaptation of the short story "Anecdote on the Decline of the Work
Ethic" (German: "Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral") by Heinrich Böll.

I would highly recommend the original over this, but I unfortunately can't
find a good translation of it. Still, for those who read German...

~~~
patrocles
Awesome; habe das vorher gelesen, aber habe ich doch den Titel vergessen.

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breck
Something I've always wondered, is if the biggest requirement for being an
internet entrepreneur is a computer and internet connection, are there a lot
of hackers/programmers living in Mexico/the Caribbean?

~~~
tim2
The biggest requirement is having encouragement from people around you or
examples of success that seem achievable.

Without these, hacking isn't so alluring.

~~~
edw519
I would amend that to "The biggest requirement is having encouragement from
within". Without that, people around you won't make much difference.

Hacking has always been VERY alluring to me, no matter what anyone else
thought. I started long ago, before it was cool.

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patrocles
When savings have zero value, not working makes sense.

Enforceable property rights matter... and so does a stable economy....

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mynameishere
By most accounts some (not all) but some primitive people had quite pleasant,
stress-free lives. The African pygmies, for instance, supposedly only hunted a
few hours out of the week and otherwise lolled about, quite happily. But most
Africans of that type were wiped out by the Bantu.

The problem, of course, is that the survival (and expansion) of the fittest
kicks in. Eventually, the people willing to putter around in an open boat are
bought out, undersold, or otherwise replaced by fishing companies. Then, land
by the shore hits 500K per quarter acre as people with hardworking jobs push
up the price.

~~~
bocajuniors
survival of the fittest? hunter/gatherers were replaced by settlers largely
because of lack of resistance for deceases spread from animals to settlers.
pretty painful way of becoming fitter and quite odd way of defining the word.

~~~
mynameishere
What do you think Darwinian fitness is?

~~~
bocajuniors
i am fully aware of what it means, which i think is obvious from what i
wrote.what i was trying to communicate was that it was a step backwards for
most people in most ways which makes it misleading to speak of fitness.of
course you can argue that societies takes the place of organisms in this case
but i think the term would be misleading even then, since it happened quite
circumstantial

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prakash
reminds me of Steve Pavlina's latest article:
[http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/03/the-most-direct-
sol...](http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/03/the-most-direct-solution-to-
any-problem/)

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utnick
If you liked this story you should really pick up the 4 hr work week.

