アメリカ人ビジネスマンとメキシコ人漁師の話

地震前に読んだTim Ferrisの『The 4-Hour Workweek』、あまりに面白くて、あまりに良かったので、すぐもう1度読み返しました。　『なぜ、週4時間働くだけでお金持ちになれるのか?』という邦訳が出ているようですが、彼の文章力が最高（！）なので、ぜひ原書で読んで欲しい。

いまいちな邦題がついているので怪しい金儲け本のように聞こえますが、著者のTim自身はアメリカの名門プリンストン大学を卒業していて、同級生たちは米ビジネス界で花形職業につきキャリアのファーストトラックを邁進中。　身を削って長時間労働にいそしみ、高給を貯めてアーリー・リタイアすることが目的。
私自身たーくさん知ってます、こういう人たち（→『MBAの同窓会』、『Factory for unhappy people - 不幸な人の製造工場』、『自分に一番近い8人が「自分」』）。

で、Timの彼らに関する描写が本当に爆笑なのです（拙訳付き）。

If I offered you $10,000,000 to work 24 hours a day for 15 years and then retire, would you do it? Of course not - you couldn't. It is unsustainable, just as what most define as a career: doing the same thing for 8+ hours per day until you break down or have enough cash to permanently stop.
How else can my 30-year-old friends all look like a cross between Donald Trump and Joan Rivers? It's horrendous - premature aging fueled by triple bypass frappuccinos and impossible workloads.

もしボクが年収1,000万円で15年間、1日24時間働いたらリタイアできるよ、って言ったらやる？　もちろんやらないよね - できないもん。　そんなの続かない、ほとんどの人が定義しているキャリア（精神的・身体的に参るか二度と働かなくていいほどキャッシュが貯まるまで1日8時間以上働くこと）だって同じだ。
そうでなきゃ、何でボクの同級生（30歳）がDonald TrumpとJoan Riversを掛け合わせたような顔してるんだ？　身の毛がよだつねー　フラペチーノと到底不可能な仕事量で3倍速で老化してる（右がDonald Trump、Joan Riversの顔は続きを読むをクリック）。

この本の中で私が一番好きな話を引用しておきます（長いけど簡単なので、訳はつけません）。

An American businessman took a vacation to a small coastal Mexican village on doctor's orders. Unable to sleep after an urgent phone call from the office the first morning, he walked out to the pier to clear his head. A small boat with just one fisher-man had docked, and inside the boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.
"How long did it take you to catch them?" the American asked.
"Only a little while," the Mexican replied in surprisingly good English.
"Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" the American then asked.
"I have enough to support my family and give a few to friends," the Mexican said as he unloaded them into a basket.
"But... What do you do with the rest of your time?"
The Mexican looked up and smiled. "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Julia, and stroll into the village each evening, where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor."
The American laughed and stood tall. "Sir, I'm a Harvard MBA and can help you. You should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. In no time, you could buy several boats with the increased haul. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats."
He continued, "Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village, of course, and move to Mexico City, then to Los Angeles, and eventually New York City, where you could run your expanding enterprise with proper management."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, senor, how long will all this take?"
To which the American replied, "15-20 years. 25 tops."
"But what then, senor?"
The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."
"Millions, senor? Then What?"
"Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing vilage, where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos...."

社会の「成功者」と定義されている人が人生の楽しみ方を知ってるとは限らない。