Time is money

In 2011, there was a movie starring Justin Timberlake called, “In Time”. This movie took the saying “time is money” to a new extent. The movie featured a situation in which people stopped aging at 25 and therefore, instead of money, they had to use time as a form of currency. However, after thinking about it extensively, we already do this, so to speak, in our everyday lives. Many people across all fields all over the world trade their time for money. The more hours you work, which is time out of your life, the more money you can make, hence the creation of “9-5s”. The question then arises which is the most important resource, time or money. Time cannot be destroyed nor can it be created. Despite the saying “I will make time”, you don’t create nor do you generate time but you rearrange the time you already have in terms of priority and flexibility. Money on the other hand can be gained or generated and it can be done in various forms such as through cash in hand, points or electronic cash.

There are numerous time travel movies and shows that demonstrate how important time is and how the person who can or who has the power to manipulate time can easily influence how much money one can make. Popular movies like “Back to the Future” or popular shows like “Doctor Who” demonstrate these points. Take for example the following situation:

Currently we know that the richest people on Earth, which is the top 2%, had invested their time into technological development such as Microsoft or Google, or invested their time into online sales such as Amazon, Alibaba or eBay. The buying and selling of properties are also extremely lucrative since humans will always need somewhere to live. Because of this, anyone whose grandparents had bought a little, some or a lot of land in the past, would be enjoying the benefits later on in the future. Basically, with what time they had, they invested into it wisely in a variety of ways and thus “time is money”. Therefore, if you could travel back in time, you would be able to invest your time in lucrative ventures. In other words, make your very own Google, Microsoft, or Amazon and buy plots of land in areas that are now mega cities, like New York, Tokyo or London.

To be immortal is also a common theme for movies and shows because time is money. If you could live forever, you could donate an endless amount of time toward a skill, goal, project or venture, thus the ability to learn and the potential to earn money is limitless. Simply put, if you have an endless amount of time, saving one coin a day for as long as you live would make you extremely rich before each currency loses its value. On the other hand, things that you acquired from the past would be considered as vintage and extremely valuable in the future.

Lori

Vocabulary

extent (noun) – how large, important, serious, etc. something is
extensively (adverb) – to a large degree; a great amount
9-5 (noun) – a job that follows the standard working time of 9am to 5pm
generate (verb) – to produce or create
lucrative (adjective) – producing a great deal of profit