The irony of the rat race explained...

[smirkymonkey]

I think some of you may have seen this, but it seems so appropriate for these times....

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 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 into 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 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. With the extra money the larger 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 middle man, 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?"

"Afterwards? 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?"

"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 and enjoying your friends.

[beam me up scottie]

1. No, hadn't read this before but

thank you. Makes me want to move to a tiny Mexican village.

[codswallop]

2. Excellent.

Perfect parable.

[Democrat Dragon]

3. Makes sense for those who do not seek recognition

"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 and enjoying your friends."

In reality he would have much more than that. Including a yacht, political influence, and more peole would know him.

But this does bring an intresting point, some rat races are more sublte than others.

If you do not want to be in the rat race, do a job you love and retire very late. Make sure it is a job that would give you a good time or give you fame and fourtune. Do not marry untill you are well-known and make sure there is a crew of paaprazzi following you.

Actually it's only one way.

[Maple]

4. Of course

in the meantime, if you wanted to go to university, get expert medical help, or travel the world, siestas and guitar playing wouldn't be much help.

[smirkymonkey]

6. It's not an entirely literal story....

the point being that so many engage in an egotistical race to the "top" at the expense of actually enjoying the life that is rapidly passing them by. By the time most people can finally "relax" and enjoy the fruits of their labor, they have lost the capacity to truly appreciate their leisure.

It's usually the people whose bodies are ravaged by the stress of living a souless, competitive, materialistic existence that are most in need of that "expert medical help." A lot of us who live in societies with the best medical care in the world still don't have aceess to it and belive it or not, there are people who still live long healthy lives that have never seen a doctor or spent time in a hospital.

And what is the point of university, except to get further ahead in the game eventually? When you think about it, everything that we consider to be so important and essential is just a trap to keep us immersed in the capitalist mindset.

We actually NEED very little when you think about it, and external things rarely bring genuine happiness.

[BeFree]

7. Hey, stop that...

That's the secret to being free, and not everyone needs to know that. <grin>

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[smirkymonkey]

9. Actually, I feel sorry for you

if you don't understand the message behind the literal story.

There is more to life than material acquisition and competing for recognition in a society whose values are so horribly out of whack.

[DustMolecule]

10. Someone who is caught in the "corporate cog"' will never know the joy

of creating a job for someone else. Only an independent businessman, like the fisherman, will ever know that. A 'cogsman' (and they are legion) will never know that. Who are you trying to kid????

[Wilms]

17. He might bring a fish to pay for the drink.

There are other possible systems.

Not that there is anything wrong with creating a decent job. I'm trying to do that.

And I have to say I didn't score major points with many potential investors advocating that the jobs be decent.

One reportedly referred to my effort as arrogant. :shrug:

[drhilarius]

13. Holy crap, you missed the point...

Let's mix the story up a bit, eh? I teach. Many people in my family are in medicine and business, and they make a considerable amount of money. I have chosen to go into a profession that may not pay much, but one that is highly rewarding. Will I have enough to buy a huge fucking SUV so that i can impress my neighbors? No. Will I have enough to buy the car that I need to get from point A to B. Yes. As a teacher, will I contribute to society? Yes, just as much as my business and medicine oriented family members.

The difference. The family members in business hate their jobs, are stressed, and hardly spend time with their families. I love teaching, am by no means stressed, have time to spend with my SO and friends. i lead a full life because i work only for what I need, not for what i think i need to impress others.

Work to live, don't live to work, that's the moral of the story.

Oh, by the way- even though I don't make much, i still have enough to "contribute significantly" to others in need (in money and time). Even though my father came to this country and took a job at the lowest rung in a factory, all of his kids went to college, so we weren't "consigned to a fisherman's life". Most importantly, both of my parents taught me to live, because otherwise life is wasted.

[smirkymonkey]

18. Thank you!

[IrateCitizen]

23. Your post is extremely well-grounded, drhilarius -- as appears your life.

I come from a family in which both of my parents were public school teachers. While we certainly weren't rich, we weren't poor either. My parents saved their entire lives, and we did without some luxuries, but I can't say that I was deprived in any way, shape or form.

Now that I'm an adult, married, and will be looking to start a family in the future, I recognize just how rich my life was growing up -- and how rich my parents' lives were (and still are). Where other friends had parents that worked all year long, getting only a few weeks off each year, I spent every summer with my parents. We traveled to visit relatives. We went camping. We worked together outside taking care of the yard and garden. And you know what -- NOTHING could have been more valuable to me, as I look back. No amount of material luxury could have come anywhere close to matching the joy and benefit of just being able to spend time with my family.

Also, I went to school for engineering. I'm now a "corporate cog", and I hate it. Rather than resign myself to an unhappy existence, I began taking classes to pursue a teaching certificate in social studies and math, and to eventually pursue an advanced degree in history. My wife is already an educator. I came to view my primary goal in life not as one in which I worked long hours and long commutes for a big house and nice car -- but a simpler existence that allowed me the opportunity to give back to my community, to raise an organic garden, to hike, fish and camp, and most of all, to spend lots of time with my family. I do this because I remember the childhood I had growing up, and recognize how lucky I was -- and know that it isn't something you can trade back down the line. If I missed my kids growing up, no amount of material wealth could ever make up for that loss.

[hfojvt]

14. Actually I have to laugh

"The joy of creating a job"
Sure that is what CEOs and entrepreneurs are all about - creating jobs. And we know how much fun those jobs are. How did the great poet put it - "This job's a pain. It's so mundane. It sure don't stimulate my brain. This job ain't worth the pay, can't wait till the end of the day..."
And "contributing to someone else in need". Again, that is what CEOs are all about - helping others. That is why they cheerfully pay the taxes that support social programs and why they want those $20 million salaries. They never really accumulate any wealth and power, and they would not dream of exploiting workers or harming the environment. It's not about power or greed or conspicuous consumption - it is about creating jobs and contributing to someone in need. (Which by the way, he certainly can do. If his uncle gets sick and cannot fish, Mr. Fisherman has the time to do some extra fishing to help him. If a friend's house gets damaged, Mr. Fisherman has the time to help them fix it, and so on.)

[hfojvt]

11. I still like the Good Will Hunting answer to the University

"You just spent $60,000 for something you could have gotten for $3 in late charges at the public library."

[SoCalDem]

12. The tsunami brings this tale to life.. Very RICH folks died alongside

the very poor, whose lifestyle and natural surroundiings they paid dearly to emulate for a few days/weeks.

The "dream" of so many frenetic business people is to make enough money to "retire" to a gorgeous beach somewhere, and wander up and down it, collecting shells..

Ironic...

By "coercing" the poor people who already live in "paradise" to "modernize" their locale and make it "tourist-friendly", they spoil it and end up enslaving the gentle people they claim to want to emulate in their retirement..

[DustMolecule]

5. Cute story. Thanks for posting it! eom

[dutchdoctor]

15. The problem of the rat race explained by me:

Even if you win, you're still just a rat.

I guess the message is the same though.

[WillowTree]

16. Put another way...

Making a living is not the same thing as making a life. I suppose that it's possible for some people to do both and do them well, but I opted awhile back for the latter, and I've never been sorry in the slightest.

Nice parable, smirkymonkey. Thank you.

[ComerPerro]

19. Thanks for posting that

[htuttle]

20. I've read time and time again that the average hunter-gatherer...

..works/worked something like 4-6 hours per day, tops.

Now, we work 8-12 hours per day.

The payoff is that we supposedly live longer -- so that we get to work 8-12 hours per day for 20 years longer than a hunter gatherer.

This is progress?

[leftofthedial]

21. Capitalism is good

Capitalism spawns competitive free markets

[dogindia]

22. TY. This may be an important cog in the wheel of recovery from

rampant greed, profiteering, ecological disaster happening. Question is how to teach western culture to move into this direction. Are there any bridges? 60's-70's back to the land did not last. Plus moving out of the economic system for many would be hard to near impossible.

[IrateCitizen]

24. Moving out of the rat race is not moving out of the economy...

I'm studying to transfer from engineering to teaching in another couple of years. I won't be moving out of the economy -- but I WILL be moving out of the rat race.

Rather than spend 3 hrs per day commuting into NYC and home, I should be able to have a 30 min drive each way max -- or, hopefully, a bike commute when weather allows. Rather than living in an area where we can barely afford a house, we can move somewhere cheaper. I can raise an organic garden for vegetables. I can be close to hiking and biking trails.

I'll have to give up luxuries in the process, but I'll gain much more fulfillment in return. I won't be dropping out of the economy -- I'll be seeking to transform my little circle of it through my actions, and hopefully encourage others to do something similar.

[alexisfree]

25. .....slow ride..

Do you run through each day on the fly
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last...

[alexisfree]

26. .....

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away...
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

[Blue_Tires]

27. great story

[dogindia]

28. creative endeaver. taking time to enjoy many things.

finding safety. furthering ideals.

[KissMeKate]

29. love that!

perfect.