Perspectives

Beefy

Beefy

Worst gambler ever
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 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?"

"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.
 
Perspectives, the Mexican already had all he wanted...
But by following the Americans lead he would serve the machine very well.
 
A good story, and a good example of our society's preoccupation with material wealth. Too many get caught up in the idea that no matter what you have, more is needed - not just deisreable, but NEEDED. The result is people working themselves to an early grave, people buying things on credit to hurry the process of "getting ahead" (while in reality are falling behind) and a working class of ulcerous, gibbering neurotics.

My younger brother has found himself in the typical quandry of American life. He set himself a goal to attain certain things he wants to make life enjoyable. But in making those things he wants affordable, he no longer has time to enjoy the things he is working so hard to afford. He has a REALLY nice fishing boat, a new pickup to pull the boat, and a nice overhead camper to go in the truck. But it has been two years since either the boat or camper were used because he is too busy to go fishing.

As a society, we really need to learn to slow down again, and learn what is enough as opposed to chasing more all the time.
 
LMAO...........

Beefy said:
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 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?"

"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.
Click to expand...

and the moral to this story is: don't listen to MBA's on wall street...they will only cause another 'Great Depression':)
 
Grind said:
the second time around the mexican has a plasma tv though.
Click to expand...

Yep and thru that plasma TV he is convinced he needs to work harder to get more stuff he really does not need.

Life is better if more simple, not more complex.
 
Beefy said:
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 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?"

"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.
Click to expand...



He then turns the American down and says his life is just fine like it is.
The wall street guy gos back to his life and drops the tip of how much could be made by commercial fishing the village and soon a company is in the waters off the village overfishing the waters forcing the Mexican to take a job in Mexico city and his family to live in its slums.
 
That is me Pooro :D

Intillegence has little to do with the pursuit of money. It is attitude and such more than intelligence.

But I've got mine :clink:
And gold is still good in dollars or euros.
 
Alcohol being expensive, how can he afford to drink everyday if he lives off of the bare minimum? In the US, property/consumer taxes would force the man to take the MBA's advice in order to make ends meet. We would also have no infrastructure, which would suck for all you people that want medicare/SS/govt. health insurance...
 
Make your own alcohol.

In early America was a common barter item.

and election day is here tomorrow the alc barter system comes back for a day. 1/2 pint for a vote :cheer:
 
LOL But the bulk of Mexican society does not live on the barter system, forcing you to be dirt poor if you attempt it. Either way, no barter society ever prospered with it. The Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Abbasids all had currencies. Europe emerged from its middle age in great part due to the commercial revolution.
 
The early Americas largely existed on the barter system once you got out of the main cities and prospered.
We still do some barter system around here. good tax breaks too.
I wonder what would be the sales tax on half a steer or a hog ?
 
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