Only A Matter of Time!

Money is Time

You ever go on an old movie marathon. The movies are not ‘old per se, it’s just been a while since you have watched them. Things change. I can recall watching this movie as earlier in my early teenage years in awe of the advancement in technology. Imagine having a clock ticking away on your wrist that dictates how long you’re going to live? Obviously, in 2021, it is not like we have explicitly gotten closer to this concept being actualised. It’s always been here!

In the beginning, we get to see the new currency in action, time. You can use time to purchase anything you could think of in fact, throughout the entirety of the movie there was no mention of the dollar at all. The elites wanted you to have a goal to work towards. It can be paper money or time you have left on the planet. Don’t focus on what it is, focus on what it means and try to understand why we have these economic and social structures in the first place.

Life is relatively short in this movie. Those surviving in the ghettos live day by day and would literally kill for another week or just a day. The elites at the top of the pyramid in North Greenwich build the structures that facilitate the stealing. For example, in the film, a lady asking for a loan of a month worth of time is given a 30% interest rate which is absurd because of the expenses incurred daily. That month is halved when you take into account the ever-increasing inflation which is visible in the daily increases to bus fares. You thought our inflation was bad! It’s not a surprise people turn to theft. Those who come from time-rich heritage find it easier to borrow, can save at higher rates, and can avoid certain taxations. The rich get richer which is the case for Phillipe.

The rich have centuries on their clock but for Phillipe its millions even ‘eons’ as they mention in the film. He believed in natural selection, survival of fittest which was more or less Darwin’s Theory of evolution. His admiration of Darwin is so profound that his birthday is the key to safe in which he keeps his ‘first’ million years of time. How he earned such wealth wasn’t specifically stated but even his daughter refers to it as ‘stolen’. When that time is taken away from him at the end in the name of justice, there is unexpectedly little to no struggle and I think Will was even surprised by the lacklustre security. A million years just sitting there. As Will and Sylvia were fleeing, Phillipe manages to get out some controversial but understandable words about the nature of society.

In stealing that time and donating it to those who need it, you reset the scoreboards for one or two generations. Everyone lives a life instead of day-by-day. You must not forget who we are though. While the system is being crippled momentarily, it will be steadied in no time thanks to the fact we always want more. Also, you could swap out the time for literally anything and the result would be identical. If everyone had a million years on their clock, there will be a person who will want two, three it never ends! It is through this desire corruption and social injustice transpire. Consequently, it is pointless to give the people that sort of power to begin with to which I somewhat agree. Despite that, I cannot agree with someone having a say over who lives and dies. The same power he does not want to equally bestow onto the needy is being used solely to facilitate his version of world order. A makeshift God in other words. Even if you do not believe in God, the sense of entitlement by Phillipe is clear to see. Will and Sylvia most certainly did.

Will and Sylvia try to get the time to where it is much needed but not without being viciously pursued by the main timekeeper which was a common theme for most of the movie. I compare his determination to a hobo fighting for a ham sandwich. It’s all the timekeeper has. Whether right or wrong, good or bad, this system has given Raymond’s life a purpose that he will die to fulfil. He did. Brainwashing in full effect. With that said, I did respect the fact he had a code and stuck to it especially when offered life-changing wealth to default on that code. Raymond had no choice because it was all he knew whereas Phillipe had a choice.

Ultimately, you can have any view of the world you want but have restraint when acting on them especially if there are negative externalities. Sadly, authorities and institutions don’t have this restraint. This movie gives the viewer an idea of the things authorities, institutions, and elites do to protect the system that has given them everything but taken away more. This idea relates to the power struggle occurring right now between central banks and crypto. With cryptocurrencies promising decentralization and hence more freedom, what will the governments do to protect their current system? Can they do anything? If they start bringing about stricter restrictions on alternatives to the dollar or pound it will only cause people to notice that they are being controlled. It’s only matter of time before people realise what this life was meant to be. In fact, most already know but are simply not as hopeful as Will and Sylvia.

Note: This is my first blog post so if you have any suggestions to do with structure, content, tone, anything feel free to let me know. If you enjoyed don’t worry, I got some mad stuff on the way to do with Data Science, personal finance, everything!