Buying Time

Einstein discovers that Time is, in fact, Money.
From Gary Larson's Far Side

Old Bureaucrat, my comrade, 

  it is not you who are to blame.

  No one ever helped you to escape.

You, like a termite,

  built your peace by blocking up with cement every chink and cranny 

through which any light might pierce.

You rolled yourself up into a ball 

  in your genteel security, 

  in routine, 

  in the stifling conventions of provincial life, 

  raising a modest rampart 

against the winds and the tides and the stars.

-- From Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint Exupery

Buying Time

Free Time. Curious phrase! It can be taken so many ways. Time taken as a noun is not too mysterious, at least as applies to our daily lives. But Free???

If we take free as an adjective, Free Time could mean that time which is unassigned, uncommitted or otherwise unavailable. Time for play, rather than chores. Time for one's own purposes, rather than those of others. Time unencumbered. Time at liberty. Time of one's own, which need not be purchased. One's own sweet time.

Or we could take it for a verb, making the phrase an Imperative. Free Time! Free it from prison. From bondage. From slavery. From the clutches of evil-doers. From ourselves.

Ooo. That smarts.

As children, we knew naught of Time and therefore enjoyed its full measure. We were, then as now, alive as long as we could remember. The glorious Now was full upon us. And the future? Fabulous!

But somewhere along the line we began to lose our naive ignorance of Time. Somehow, Time went from endless, to finite, to being in short supply. Moment after moment was taken from us. Irrevocably lost to us. And who did this dirty deed? Oh, sure, the usual suspects -- parents, teachers, adults of various persuasions -- they all did their share.

But the sad truth is, we learned to do this to ourselves. To willingly trade the moments of our lives for luxury, security and status. Consumer goods.

Alright, then. We HAD to do it! We HAVE to survive in an economy where Time is Money! We NEED Money to live, and trade our lives for Money. Don't we???

How would Adam Smith see it?

We only get so much time. Ask just about any of our elders and you'll find that our time is far too short, even at the far end of a long life. Supply is therefore low. Demand is indefinite and varies in context, but is clearly high for most of us.

Ol' Adam says this makes our Time valuable to us.

To employers, our time looks very different. The system has been set up so we all need money, which means employment (time as person-hours). There's a lot of us, so their supply is high. They only need a few of us, so their demand is low. 

Generally speaking, our time - to them - is worth little.

Mmm. Bleak. And why sell our time to them, dimes on the dollar???

But trading time for money is not our only option. Once our necessities (water, food, shelter, health) have been met, we are able to Free Time! Free, as in the verb, the clarion call, the manifesto!! 

In Your Money or Your Life, Money is defined as life energy. We can't live without money at present, but we can earn and spend consciously. Once necessity is met, we can choose what is worth our Free Time -- our own, precious store of it -- and what is not.

*****

Anke and I invest Money we don't earn in Free Time. 

Together, we earn less than if one of us were employed, half-time, at minimum wage. This is plenty for necessities, with a healthy surplus for a little sugar 'n' spice. 

Our sustenance is bought (inexpensively) or foraged. Our DIY boats are shelter. Our health is good (part luck, part low-stress, active living). Our necessities are few and simply met. And our future? Fabulous!

The rest of our time is our own. Ours to invest in sweet time. Free time!

 

Bought and paid for.