Well, apparently the story was conceived by a German, in which case the social system would catch him, provide the health care he needs, and when recovered he'd be back on that beach...

Anywhere in Europe actually.

Europe is big, made of many different countries, with very different policies on public health care and very different standards for that public health care. For example, in Romania (part of the EU!), the big cities usually have good hospitals, but if you're in villages or smaller cities, good luck! Also, to be able to benefit from free public health care, there's a list of conditions you have to meet, it's not available by default to anyone. The requirements are quite reasonable (be employed, be on maternity leave, be in school, etc.), But there are people who are not covered.

But who pays for these social services to pay the doctors that heal him?

Immigrants waiting to get citizenship so they can enjoy the same safety net.

Residents also enjoy the same safety net. German social benefits do no distinguish on status. The only exception is if your residence permit is tied to your employment, in which case it’s a little more complicated, but only due to the horribly slow immigration office.

It sounds a lot like a ponzi, doesn't it?

It's also quite improbable when one lives stress free. Maybe if one engages in rock fishing or cliff jigging and slips off a wet rock.

I've taken up fishing myself last year, after a Greek taught me how they do sport fishing. Shore spinning can be very relaxing and one can enjoy water sports at the sea even in a Bf 4 breeze or during swell conditions when the red flag is up.

https://youtu.be/ayZ-x8CWH4k

My grandfather was a fisherman. Had a massive heart attack that killed him at 60. I barely met him. Years of hard work, exposure to the elements, the ever-present stress of the next catch, family worries and a general life of subsistence were not kind to him.

He was "lucky" he died too, if he survived he would've faced a disabled life in a place with no health care or general services beyond basic. That was the life on the remote seaside.

His wife and kids though surely would have liked to be left with some more than the fishing tools, boat and shack...

You realise I wasn't talking about commercial or subsistence fishing.

Wouldn’t the same thing happen even if he were rich?

No, a triple bypass is cheap if you’re rich.

Wouldn't need one... He obviously eats a lot of fish.

He doesn’t die alone. His children and wife watch him die. Without him, they must toil endlessly to survive.

His son already got into YC2024, via his participation in a worker-owned tech coop that is bringing big data, AI and crowd sourcing to the fishing business.

His wife, who in the 1800s, would never have been recognized for her work, is today known as one of her country's greatest contemporary sculptors, and has exhibited at Tate Modern, the Guggenheim and has a show next month in Rio.

The fisherman used to talk with pride about his family's accomplishments when sipping retsina with his friends on the dock.

i wonder how the fisherman got to know and marry an internationally successful artist and what are the odds of that happening...

He's a retired businessman. They met, by chance, years ago when he was in South Korea to close the construction contract for his 50-boat fishing fleet with Hyundai.

So he still lived a happy an fulfilling life doing exactly what he wanted. Sounds good to me.

Better to enjoy your life before your debilitating disease than to be miserable up until your debilitating disease. The fisherman was going to die anyways.

We are all racing to the same destination.

I'd wager there are more ways to die in modern society than in the fisherman's village. If we're speculating, a few years later the businessman gets hit by a truck crossing the street, or addicted to opiates, or has a heart attack from his sedentary lifestyle. And he doesn't even seem to have had much fun before that!

And 30 years later the businessman dies of old age, alone in a fancy care home with only his nurse there to watch him pass and his last words are “if only I had listened to the fisherman”

Yeah healthcare is the one thing I want financial security for. Big house, nice car, expensive food is all whatever, but I have some weird paranoia that in the next 30-40 years some longevity treatment will start rolling out or I will develop some condition that I will be priced out of.