Time, the central force controlling economics

Tic toc, tic toc, tic toc….. the clock continues to move it’s fragile hands around the indestructible force, time. According to Webster’s Dictionary the definition of time is, “The infinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole”. One could assume that without the spine of time- controlling every essence of life, we would live under the rule of utter chaos. Our world has become so obsessed and consumed with time that it has been encrypted into every aspect of our life; cars, phones, the television, bathrooms, break rooms, churches, stores and road signs. There’s no escaping time. If time has become a “god” amidst society surely one can come to conclusion that it must have an impact on our economy. In fact much to my surprise throughout my research I discovered that the obsession with time was given birth to by the Industrial Revolution of the 1900’s. Time became the central magnet holding together the spinning wheel of economics.

                    

In the 1900’s the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism changed the way people viewed time. Time evolved into a central force controlling the work place and began seeping into the personal lives of employees across the world. According to The Atlantic, “Capitalism changed how humans perceive the passage of hours, days, and weeks. This made people more productive, but did it make them any happier?” Before the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism the income of an employee was determined by the amount of work produced. A member of the work force was given back what they contributed. Time virtually had no rule. Work ethic, skill and productivity determined one’s income.

In the late 1800’s watches were viewed as a piece of “feminine jewelry”. They were impractical often used as a family heirloom or decorative fashion accessory.  You can imagine the shock on the soldier’s faces in World War I felt when they were issued watches by the government. Eventually they grew in favor towards this “feminine accessory” as it assisted them in coordinating attacks during battle. Along with the habit of smoking the soldiers came home- maintaining the habit of wearing a watch. Watches today have become an accustomed part of everyday life. Whether an Apple Watch, Rolex or even a phone checking the time is a habit many of us contain that we don’t even realize. We produced a culture ultimately obsessed with time. School starts at 8am. Work gets over at 5pm. The Fox News is on at 10pm. Being late is viewed as irresponsible. Being “early” is glorified as one of the fruits of the spirit. The ring of a bell signals to end your education for the day. The ding of a clock is your cue to stop working. Wow. We don’t even realize it but why are we allowing time to dictate how we spend our every waking moment. We are micromanaging our lives and ultimately giving time the ability to be an abstract dictator.

Since the Industrial Revolution the majority of Americans began to be paid by an hourly wage. This was instilled in order to abide by labor laws and assist in the prosperity of life for the average citizen. In 1910 the first assembly lines began with Henry Ford and his production of the automobiles. Fredrick Winslow spurred society’s fascination with optimal use of time when he wrote The Principles of Scientific Management. As The Atlantic describes, “Taylor’s productivity treatise divided labor into discrete activities—open the mail, hammer the nail—and encouraged maximizing production over time (while often minimizing wages over time).” Because of Taylor’s scientific management theories the use of time clocks and hourly wage became custom for businesses across the United States.  Ultimately hourly wages changed the way that work is viewed. Work is no longer viewed as production on a large scale but rather as designated time set aside towards building a livelihood.  The question we must ask is is this micromanagement of time messing with the natural human desire to work and produce?

I think we have every right to question why hourly wage is going up but the amount of hours worked in a day is going down? What effects is this having on our economy in the long run? While it may be producing more money on a day to day basis, this could be contributing to the lack of employment. Throughout the Industrial Revolution workers were fighting to get labor law to maximize a 10-hour work week rather than their usual 12-hour work week. Do employers receive maximum amount of production by employees paid hourly rather than by amount of production?

In 1930 John Maynard Keynes predicted that economic productivity would decrease work weeks to 15 hours. If time is so valuable than why have the wealthiest not used their income to “buy more time”? According to The Atlantic “The richest Americans now work longer hours than they did a few decades ago.” Rich American men ave been proven to posses the quality of being “workaholics”. I have two predictions as to why this may be. The first is the obvious, as wealth grows so does the thirst for more. The second prediction (and more likely) is that the men are working by the hour. The natural desire for completion of production isn’t being acquired. Hours are more valuable than production. This messes up the human mentality for work therefore creating the obsession of time… because time is literally code for money. Once again The Atlantic phrases it perfectly, “So much of what we now call time is a collective myth, devised by emperors, industrialists, protesters, and tinkerers. It’s ironic, then, that the happiest workers are those who labor to buy time rather than money. The workaholics serve an illusive god. Then again, as the quantum physicists would say, so do we all.”

I hope you never look at a clock the same. I challenge you to begin to notice how many times you ponder the time or look for a clock. Time can begin to be a god that we use to micromanage and take control of our lives. From a Christian perspective we have two divisions of time to focus on; our life on earth, and our life in eternity. One might assume that because our soul will live on for eternity the overall importance of each minute on earth decreases. However, I disagree. Each minute we live on earth determines our eternity. True wealth is acquired over time. In order to live in prosperity, you must make time your friend. Nobody gets rich overnight, it’s the endurance of the profit that portrays true wealth. To put an economic perspective on Christianity, if true wealth is acquired over time maybe Christianity and the fate of your eternity isn’t something you can become dedicated to in your last days. So tic toc tic toc your time is slipping away.