How Much Land Does A Man Need?

I recently came across Leo Tolstoy's short story, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?," which centres on the life of Pahom, a Russian peasant with strong ambitions, seeking his fortune. A clever Bashkir tribesman offers him a deal he is eager to accept: 1,000 rubles for as much land as he could walk around in a day. So, Pahom sets out at dawn and would have realized a rich estate but for his obsession to encompass more land than a day's walk would allow. He manages to return to his starting point before the sun sets, but only to collapse on the spot with blood trickling from his mouth. The dream of conquest was over with the death of Pahom and his servant burying him. The last line of Tolstoy's story, "How Much Land Does a Man Need?," is answered, "Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed."

The story is one of greed and perhaps reflects well North American society. We see this story lived out on reality TV shows such as Survivor in which people are willing to forsake all that they would normally stand for in order to win money. We also see it in regards to the abuse of our environment, how we mismanage the resources we have been called to manage. When is enough - enough? It is also a story of lifestylism - what motivates us to pursue the things that we pursue? Are our motivations of merit, of value or are they mere greed. How willing are we to sacrifice our time, our families for the sake of our careers?

Maybe the story is simply about overload as Dr. Richard Swenson suggests in his book The Overload Syndrome. He says the problem with our society is not necessarily the load or ambition but our willingness to go beyond what our bodies can endure. The Bashkirs knew that Pakhom's body had limits - but his greed did not.

I remember a co-worker of mine who had a picture of a limo in his lunchkit. I asked him about it and he said that was what kept him going. On the side he was selling Amway or some type of pyramid get-rich scheme. I remember thinking how futile an ambition that was.

G