A few years later, the fisherman gets an expensive, debilitating disease and dies penniless and destitute and alone. But at least he had fun before that.
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...
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's also quite improbable when one lives stress free. Also, looking at the water clears your head and makes you more productive in the end.
Maybe if one engages in rock fishing or cliff jigging and slips off a wet rock, they could get a debilitating accident.
Didn't like for years it but I've finally taken up sport fishing myself last year, after a Greek taught me how they do it and let me try. 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.
Now if I go to the seaside I also bring my tackle along with the wetsuit and swimming goggles. In some countries you need a fishing permit (Croatia, Italy). In Greece you only need it for commercial fishing.
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. Such was the life on the remote undeveloped seaside.
His wife and kids though surely would have liked to be left with something more than the fishing tools, boat and shack...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”
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!
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.
