Said1
05-26-2007, 09:37 AM
Sachs is on of my favorites. His writing is quite simple, topics interesting, etc, etc. Enjoy!
RICH IN THINGS, POOR IN TIME
Wolfgang Sachs
Poverty of time degrades the wealth of goods.
from Resurgence Issue 196
Peter Till
A TOURIST FOCUSES in on a most idyllic picture: a man in simple clothes dozing in a fishing boat that has been pulled out of the waves which come rolling up the sandy beach. The camera clicks, the fisherman awakens. The tourist offers him a cigarette and launches into a conversation: “The weather is great, there is plenty of fish, why are you lying around instead of going out and catching more?”
The fisherman replies: “Because I caught enough this morning.”
“But just imagine,” the tourist says, “you would go out there three or four times a day, bringing home three or four times as much fish! You know what could happen?” The fisherman shakes his head. “After about a year you could buy yourself a motor-boat,” says the tourist. “After two years you could buy a second one, and after three years you could have a cutter or two. And just think! One day you might be able to build a freezing plant or a smoke house, you might eventually even get your own helicopter for tracing shoals of fish and guiding your fleet of cutters, or you could acquire your own trucks to ship your fish to the capital, and then . . .”
“And then?” asks the fisherman.
“And then”, the tourist continues triumphantly, “you could be calmly sitting at the beachside, dozing in the sun and looking at the beautiful ocean!” The fisherman looks at the tourist: “But that is exactly what I was doing before you came along!”
The story — told by writer Heinrich Böll — plays upon the hopes and fears of the rich. The tourist, upon seeing the lazy fisherman dozing in the sun, remembers his fears of becoming poor, of getting stuck in a situation in which he has no options. At the same time, he instinctively projects the hope of the rich upon the poor. Without thinking twice, he outlines a road map to expand productivity. And at the end, holds out a promise that is supposed to give meaning to all these efforts: achieving freedom from one’s labour and gaining mastery over time.
Continued here: www.resurgence.org/resurgence/issues/sachs196.htm
RICH IN THINGS, POOR IN TIME
Wolfgang Sachs
Poverty of time degrades the wealth of goods.
from Resurgence Issue 196
Peter Till
A TOURIST FOCUSES in on a most idyllic picture: a man in simple clothes dozing in a fishing boat that has been pulled out of the waves which come rolling up the sandy beach. The camera clicks, the fisherman awakens. The tourist offers him a cigarette and launches into a conversation: “The weather is great, there is plenty of fish, why are you lying around instead of going out and catching more?”
The fisherman replies: “Because I caught enough this morning.”
“But just imagine,” the tourist says, “you would go out there three or four times a day, bringing home three or four times as much fish! You know what could happen?” The fisherman shakes his head. “After about a year you could buy yourself a motor-boat,” says the tourist. “After two years you could buy a second one, and after three years you could have a cutter or two. And just think! One day you might be able to build a freezing plant or a smoke house, you might eventually even get your own helicopter for tracing shoals of fish and guiding your fleet of cutters, or you could acquire your own trucks to ship your fish to the capital, and then . . .”
“And then?” asks the fisherman.
“And then”, the tourist continues triumphantly, “you could be calmly sitting at the beachside, dozing in the sun and looking at the beautiful ocean!” The fisherman looks at the tourist: “But that is exactly what I was doing before you came along!”
The story — told by writer Heinrich Böll — plays upon the hopes and fears of the rich. The tourist, upon seeing the lazy fisherman dozing in the sun, remembers his fears of becoming poor, of getting stuck in a situation in which he has no options. At the same time, he instinctively projects the hope of the rich upon the poor. Without thinking twice, he outlines a road map to expand productivity. And at the end, holds out a promise that is supposed to give meaning to all these efforts: achieving freedom from one’s labour and gaining mastery over time.
Continued here: www.resurgence.org/resurgence/issues/sachs196.htm