Money isn't everything

jamesrw

jamesrw

jamesrw

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A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took 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 into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life." The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican.

With the extra money the bigger boat will bring, you can buy a second and a third and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can then 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 new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my Friend, that's when it gets really interesting." answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" said the Mexican.

"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 with your wife, and spend your evenings doing what you like and enjoying your friends."
 
I like that, very true, but the trouble is, not everyone can be content with a life like that.....people can get greedy and want to make the money to buy material items. Obviously the mexican isnt like that, but its how a lot of people think.
 
It doesnt take into account that the fish might stop biting or a natural disaster will wreck everything...then what'll happen I ask you! eh EH!?
 
I like this story a lot. I told it to people I met in South America as a way of breaking the Ice. It segways nicely into a good conversation about Western vs Latin views of life etc. :)
 
If I could find a away to pay off most of my mortgage, get somewhere to live with a smallholding and enought land to live as well as I need to without full time employment I'd do it tomorrow. I like living in the UK though and property is too dame expensive :(

HT
 
heh, it's funny, I could spend all day with my wee man, and wee girl, and play and live like a silver spooned kid, but I'd rather run a business with several employees and work, very very hard for money, and buy my own supercar house holidays... rewards are things you work for, dignity and pride have a place in this story too.


But one day, i want to teach my boy, and my grandchildren how to play chess, while drinking wine in the sunshine. The fact I could do so now, makes no difference to my own personal ambitions.
 
jamesrw said:
.......

"Millions? Really? And after that?" said the Mexican.

"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 with your wife, and spend your evenings doing what you like and enjoying your friends."
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Shouldn't that read "After that, you'll be able to retire, live in a mansion in a tiny village near the coast, with your own pool, home theatre, games room etc, sleep late, play with your children and send them to the best schools, catch a few fish from the back of your 100ft yacht, take a siesta with your wife, and spend your evenings doing what you like, travelling first class anywhere in the world, staying in the best hotels and taking your friends with you."

Or something like that, anyway?
 
My girlfriend is Mexican. I joined them on holiday in Mexico, travelling across the country from Mexico City to the south, then back up to a remote village ~2 hrs from Mexico City.

It was absolutely divine - the people were all so laid back, so friendly.

Sure, a couple of the family members were lawyers/accountants, or international corporate executives, but in a little village in the middle of the mountains miles away from anywhere, I can certainly tell you that Mexican folk really know how to have a good time. It's amazing the difference between cultures, and I had an absolutely fantastic time.

I'd love to live in Mexico :)
 
Sounds like the perfect life to me :)

However, in the sort of world we live in, with so much tax and a government that makes self-sufficiency very difficult, it's not really possible. In this day and age, money, or lack thereof, can make life difficult. Stress like that can really impede on your life.

Sure, money isn't everything, but it sure ****ing helps ;)

Ant :cool:
 
This is how i see it.
If i hate a wife i loved i would be one of the happyest person alive. But i dont so ill take millions upon millions of dollars because if i dont have love i might aswell have something to keep me happy.
 
Zip said:
This is how i see it.
If i hate a wife i loved i would be one of the happyest person alive. But i dont so ill take millions upon millions of dollars because if i dont have love i might aswell have something to keep me happy.
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But if it's not what you really want to be doing, how is it going to make you happy?
 
Sequoia said:
Shouldn't that read "After that, you'll be able to retire, live in a mansion in a tiny village near the coast, with your own pool, home theatre, games room etc, sleep late, play with your children and send them to the best schools, catch a few fish from the back of your 100ft yacht, take a siesta with your wife, and spend your evenings doing what you like, travelling first class anywhere in the world, staying in the best hotels and taking your friends with you."

Or something like that, anyway?
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And if you don't want all those things... ?
 
vonhelmet said:
And if you don't want all those things... ?
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Then don't do the business route. Not everybody can, or should, or wants to.

But the story in the opening post implies that you end up in the same place with either route. Despite the obvious light-hearted nature of the 'story', I was just pointing out the fallacy - you don't end up in the same place, even if it might sometimes superficially look like it.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting the money or material possessions. If that's what floats your boat, good for you. Go for it. If the simple life is what appeals, great. But some of us do enjoy the benefits of money, and there's nothing wrong with that either. The real benefit to money is that it enables people to do things they can't do without it ..... such as lots of travel.

All of us are equal - we only have one life. We each have to pick our route, make our decisions and live with the consequences. Just because I choose one route and you may choose another doesn't mean my route is wrong for me even if your route is right for you, and vice versa.

Oh, and I've said before on a couple of occasions that not only does money not solve all problems, but it introduces some you won't have if you haven't got it. There's a price to pay for having money. Nonetheless, I'd still rather be stinking rich than stoney broke, and I'm not ashamed of it. Anybody that picks a different route in life, well, that's their choice, just as my route is my choice. I wouldn't have it any other way.

But I wonder .... if all the poor (or even averagely well-off) people in the world, living a simple rustic or suburban life, were offered the chance to be multi-millionaires instead, how many would choose to stay poor? My bet is, unsurprisingly, not many. I'd bet not many poor people are poor from choice.
 
PinkPig said:
But if it's not what you really want to be doing, how is it going to make you happy?
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Well if i cant have love i might aswell have the next best thing.
Driving makes me happy and with millions i could buy any and every car i want and have no concern about insurance or petrol prices, i could learn and pay to fly planes and i could own a jet ski and travel anywhere in the world i want and i would be happy.
But tbh (i cant believe im saying this) i would give up the opportunity to be rich if it ment i could have a wife i loved and she loved me back just as much :)

Edit: To have both would be great though :D
 
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