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Re:What I Would Do If I Ran Tarsnap by bambax on Thursday April 03, 2014 @04:35PM (#7526382)
A businessman is on vacation on an island; walking on the beach, he comes across a middle-aged man sitting next to a very small rusty boat.

- What do you do?

- Right now I'm not doing anything; sometimes I fish.

- So you're a fisherman?

- If you want to call it that.

- Why aren't you fishing now?

- As I'm sure you'd put it, I have reached my daily quota.

- What's your quota?

- One fish a day. At most. Some days I don't catch any.

- One. Fish. A. Day?? You can't make a living with one fish per day! Where do you even go to sell just one fish??!?

- I don't sell it. I eat it.

The businessman stays silent for a while, watching the man watching the sea. Then he says

- Listen, I'm a businessman. Don't you want to hear some advice about how to grow your business?

- Shoot.

- First, you should make it your goal to catch as much fish as possible, every day. There must be a market somewhere on this island where you could sell it?

- There is. 2 miles from here.

- Okay, great. You catch a lot of fish, you walk to the market, you sell the fish, keeping some for your own consumption if you wish.

- And then?

- And then, with the money you buy a net. A net will let you catch so much more fish at once.

- And then?

- And then you catch more fish, you sell more fish, you make more money. With the money, you can buy a better boat.

- Better in what sense?

- Bigger, nicer -- better looking! And with that boat you'll be able to catch even more fish.

- Oh. And then what?

- Then you make even more money, and you can save it.

- Save it?

- After your expenses are paid, you keep the extra money; after a while you'll have lots of money.

- And what do I do with that money?

- Once you have enough money, you'll be able to retire! You won't have to work anymore!

Now it's time for the fisherman to think. He stares at his feet for a while and says

- But I'm not working right now.

Re:What I Would Do If I Ran Tarsnap by anilgulecha on Thursday April 03, 2014 @11:36PM (#7529078)
Wasn't there a fable posted to HN which continued this story -- about how the businessman found the fisherman's neighbour to serve the market?
Re:What I Would Do If I Ran Tarsnap by johnchristopher on Friday April 04, 2014 @05:12AM (#7530159)
I don't know why you are being down-voted.

Here's a follow-up and slightly different take on that story: http://blog.figuringshitout.com/the-parable-of-the-fisherman...

Here's an HN discussion about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6602351