I thought the story was directed to the general readership, in which case I find it a naive oversimplification of wealth/labor and raldi's addendum to it realis

I thought the story was directed to the general readership, in which case I find it a naive oversimplification of wealth/labor and raldi's addendum to it realistic. If it applied specifically to notch, his financial freedom would be very obvious to a passing businessmen; ie, he'd be ordering burgers from the local joint to feed himself, not slaughtering cattle for meat (unless he enjoys that part). Only Hollywood seems to think we all work like rats without considering why. If I had all my student loans, car, house, retirement, recreational allowance provided for, I might never touch a keyboard again. Point being "striving for excess without considering your needs" is more concise and accurate than any interpretation of this "parable".