Have you become a "star counting businessman"? ~The Little Prince of the Stars asks about the loneliness of possession~

"I hate being interjected. I'm busy with important tasks."

The businessman who lives on the fourth star in The Little Prince says, continuing to count the stars. Seeing this, I laughed when I was a child, thinking, "What a strange adult." But now I know. His appearance may be an extremely accurate portrait of us living in the present day.

Isn't your catchphrase "busy"? What are you "counting" now?

Roughly speaking

1. The star counting businessman who appears in "The Little Prince" is a fable of modern business people who are chased by numbers and KPIs.
2. He is obsessed with "owning" and completely loses his purpose and value. This is a scathing irony of our work and our lives.
3. The prince's pure question, "What should we do about that planet?", sharply asks us what we really need to cherish.

51,622,731 stars and your deposit bankbook

The businessman counts the number of stars he "owns" over and over again. He doesn't enjoy watching the stars, nor does he use it for anyone else. All you have to do is record the number on your books, deposit it in the bank, and be satisfied by confirming that you are the owner.

Can we laugh at this funny look?

Sales targets, market share, website page views, number of followers on social media, deposit bankbook balance... Every day, we are striving to pursue and increase the number of numbers. If the numbers increase, you will feel a sense of accomplishment, and if the numbers decrease, you will feel anxious. But how much do we feel about the "value" that is supposed to be on the other side of those numbers? Just as businessmen have forgotten the beauty of the stars, have we also lost sight of the intrinsic value that cannot be converted into numbers, such as the fulfillment of our work, the smiles of our customers, and the joy of disseminating information.

The Little Prince's Question: Why "What should you do about that planet?" thrusts modern people

The Little Prince asks this businessman an innocent but heart-warming question.

"I have a lot of stars, what are you going to do?" "It's useful to get rich" "What will you do when you get rich?" "If another star is found, I can buy it."

This Zen riddle-like exchange is a strong antithesis to modern society, which has lost its purpose. Why do you want to achieve that goal? Why chase those numbers? If we can only have the answer "to chase more numbers," then we are no different from businessmen. He is a lonely being who continues to climb the stairs of infinite numbers, breathlessly.

What is the purpose of your job? If you're stuck with the answer, this prince's question will stick deep into your heart.

What is "useful"? Contrast of lighting people and businessmen

The Little Prince pays homage to the next visitor of the fifth star, "little man." His job is to turn on and turn off the gas lights every minute, which is completely absurd from the outside. But the prince says:

"At least, that person's work has meaning. When a person turns on his lamp, it's like having a star or a flower bloom....it's beautiful, so it's a really useful job."

The work of the person on the light is for someone else's benefit. Even if it is not seen by anyone, his work creates the value of "beauty." On the other hand, the businessman's job is merely to satisfy his own "love of ownership."

"Useful" doesn't just mean generating economic benefits. To please someone, to create something beautiful, to warm someone's heart a little. That too is undoubtedly "helpful." Through this contrast, Saint-Exupéry quietly teaches us the importance of value that cannot be measured on measures such as profit and efficiency.

Conclusion: Stars are not "countable." It was something to "look"

The biggest tragedy of a businessman is that he has become so obsessed with owning a star that he has never experienced the beauty of the starry sky. He has astronomical wealth, but mentally poorer than anyone else.

What should we do in the limited time of life? Will you spend your life pursuing numbers and increasing the number of digits in your ledger? Or should you stop and watch to your heart's content as you can at your heart's content as you are chasing the stars.

The Little Prince doesn't give you the answer. They just quietly ask which path we should choose.

What is "counting"?

If you're busy with your daily work and don't know what you're running for, you should definitely try opening up The Little Prince. In particular, this scene in which the Little Prince traverses the stars of various adults.

Not the strange residents of the distant planet are there. It is our own reflection in the mirror.