New Movie "In Time" Shows World Where Time Is Currency

[heydude]

I think this fits in public policy because it has to do with our society and public life as a whole.

There is a new movie coming out starring Justin Timberlake in which time is actually currency. You can buy a cup of coffee for five minutes of your life. Everyone lives to be 25 years old unless you spend too much of your time on things. In addition, you can earn time and live to be forever. (there is something sinister about taking other peoples time for yourself to live longer).

I think we already use time as currency. If you have money, you will live longer (be able to buy food for one). And you have access to better healthcare, etc.

We talk about the value of our time here and wanting to have more time instead of more things. I think this issue of time is very interesting. It would be cool to start thinking in terms of time. Lets measure the GDP in terms of time. How much time do we earn by working so hard? etc.

[Sissy]

i saw the ad for this movie on TV. Looks very intrigueing. Somewhat freaky, tho.

[Gregg]

Not so far removed from the principals of YMOYL, except for the sinister part, of course. For most of us money is a very real representation of time. The key is to realize that's what it is.

[Spartana]

Not so far removed from the principals of YMOYL, except for the sinister part, of course. For most of us money is a very real representation of time. The key is to realize that's what it is.

Ditto. I actually DO think of time as my currency rather then in terms of money - especially now that I'm retired. When I buy something (rarely) I do the YMOYL thing where I ask my self "how long would I have to work to pay for all the costs associated with this purchase" rather than "how much does this thing cost" since there are so many more factors involved in the cost for a thing then...well... the cost for a thing. If I make $20/hour and a thing cost $20 I may think it's a wash - "yeah, I'm willing to work an hour to buy this thing". But in reality I have to pay taxes on that $20 earned - as well as taxes on the purchse of the thing and that means I have to work a longer time to buy the thing. I have to pay for fuel and for a vehicle - and insurance & maintenence - to get to my job to earn that $20 - as well as to get to the store to buy the thing. I have to spend time commuting to the job to earn the money to buy the thing - then commute to the store to buy the thing that equals time spent. I may have to buy certain clothes I would never wear otherwise to wear to my job to earn the $20 to buy the thing. I may have to pay for day care for my kids so that I can work at my job to get the money to buy the thing. I may have to hire people to do repairs and maintenance on my home since I'm working to earn the money to buy the thing all day. I may have to pay for training or education so I can get a job so I can earn the money to pay for the thing. Etc... So... lots more costs involved - and certainly lots more time spent on the job to earn the money to buy a $20 thing. Which may "cost" you alot more then an hours time at work. So when I think of a purchase, I have a tendency to think in terms of "time-costs" rather than just the cost of the thing - usually that's enough to convince me I don't need it. Of course, to be fair, you's also need to calculate in any benefits you'd earn on that job (like healthcare, dental, life insurance, vacation, sick leave, etc...) to come up with a true picture of what an hour of your time actually costs.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yea money may be time but not very "liquid" time in that case. You can't easily "cash it out" (or would that be time it out) in other words. So suppose my reasonable amount of savings and my spending comes out less than my net income. It's not that easy to get the average job to let you work part-time then (and I've done it before, so I do know how not easy it is). But let's say instead of working part-time you want to take time off work and just take a year off work say, because you have the money to. Yea but then if rumors are true you fall into the category of someone employers will never want to hire again, as you are now one of the "long term unemployed", even IF it was entirely voluntary, not a single job was looked for in the time, and not a dime of unemployment insurance collected! Nope, now you risk blacklisting. So then you start planning some distant future, several decades from now when I am retired .... Several decades what? Sure hope your money isn't it stocks if the market crashes, sure hope your money isn't in an investment that doesn't keep up with inflation, etc.. Better to save than not for retirement for sure (what if we have several decades of booming stock markets and we all get rich? :)), but money is very "unliquid" time.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I've thought of one EASY way to turn money into time in the here and now: take an extra week of unpaid vacation. Serious advice, thinking a lot about it myself. Perhaps not worth it if you already have a generous vacation policy (4 weeks or more) but if you have a stingy one ..... And unless your job is on the chopping block anyway, this is far too measly a request for an employer to quibble with, noone will care.

[DonkaDoo]

I've thought of one EASY way to turn money into time in the here and now: take an extra week of unpaid vacation. Serious advice, thinking a lot about it myself. Perhaps not worth it if you already have a generous vacation policy (4 weeks or more) but if you have a stingy one ..... And unless your job is on the chopping block anyway, this is far too measly a request for an employer to quibble with, noone will care.

Agreed - my company allows 2 weeks a year of PTO (purchased time off) and I take it. I already have 4 weeks of paid vacation - giving me 6 weeks total, plus the govt holidays- so I am basically at 7 weeks of vacation. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh - plus I have 56 hrs of sick time which I rarely use.