Re: Friends don't count money

Galen Sanford has a very interesting post, to which I would like to make the following comment:

So, please tell us what success is...

• Is it making friends? What type of friends?
• Is it not cutting in line? Why? I doubt many cut in line in totalitarian regimes. Not cutting in line is only a virtue in relative anarchy...why?
• Is it sharing? Why? Because they need to share? What is sharing?
• If it is the quality of our friendships then it is not the quantity, or is it?
• The depth of our conversations? Is that the gravity of the subject matter or the expansiveness of the subject matter? I can easily imagine that conversations had in Hitler's concentration camps or Soviet gulags were very deep... [and I would like to note that I do believe those people were probably more alive then the average poorly-entertained and well-fed American...but we still don't desire merely those conversations.]

The economy seems to be a relatively objective measure of a country's citizens' capacity to pursue happiness however they wish. With more wealth there perhaps comes more evil but there is also more and better life. More opportunities to help others.

You know that old yarn...(?):

An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."
The tourist then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"
The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."
The tourist then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."
The tourist scoffed, " I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
The tourist replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But what then?" asked the Mexican.
The tourist laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions?...Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos..."

[Addendum by me: The Mexican fisherman chuckled to himself, wondering how some people just don't understand, and walked away...leaving the American tourist dumbfounded at how some people just don't understand...]

...beautiful, eh?

I always liked the story, and still do, ...until I realized a flaw: What about when the fisherman's wife becomes ill? What about the quality of life for the rest of his family, his village, the world? Money is a useful tool...increases in efficacy, efficiency, productivity are not the end, but they can be a means...

I just can't believe but that capitalism does afford for us a Golden Mean...

Keep asking questions...I don't have the answers, but I must keep asking questions.

And:

"The economy rallies" has no bearing on the quality of our friendships or the depth of our conversations.

"No bearing"? Hmm...I am able to have this conversation with you because the economy rallied and supported innovation within technology...