Thuswise.org

I am a consultant, software developer, and Chartered Engineer. For as long as I've worked in industry, I've marvelled at how inefficient corporate engineering efforts can be. In order to produce a modest advance in some technique or other, you have to spend a fortune. Why is this?

When we are born, we become the owner of several decades of free time. And we have no money. So we get a job, and begin to exchange our time for money; we spend this money first on our basic needs, and then on increasingly bizarre goods and services which are the artifacts of our modern culture. First bus fare, then bathroom tiles, and finally balloon rides.

The products we buy have a function beyond that advertised on the box. They are a mechanism by which we transfer our excess money wealth to others who have time to give and who need to pay the rent.

The trouble is, although my earning power may increase as I get older, my store of spare time will forever diminish. Every time I exchange my time for money I lose out. When money buys time it dictates what time produces, and the struggle to control outcomes is at the root of waste.