Life is very short and there is no time....

The phrase "time is money" is an extension of our capitalist viewpoint. Time is seen as an opportunity that must be exploited. This is best exemplified through the economic concept of "opportunity cost", meaning the loss of potential gains from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen. In capitalist society we are very concerned with making the "most of our time" rather then just appreciating the pleasure of being alive. In contrast thinking of "time as a gift" is to think of time as something to be valued in itself, not what can be done with it. To quote Lennon (as in John not Validmer) "life is very short and there is no TIME for fussing and fighting my friends".

Exploiting time (time is money) ultimately forces us to exploit each other. Thinking of time is a gift is to think of life as a treasure something to be respected, to exploit someone else's time for your own ends is to steal their life.



The Aymara of Boliva and Chlie have a unique view of time. Their concept of past and future is a reversal of our own. The Aymara word for the past is "nayra" which means "front", "sight" They use the word "qhipa" for the future which means " back" or "behind". The gestures used to talk about the past have the Aymara pointing forward and behind when speaking of the future. The past is seen as something known (seen with their eyes) where as the future is unknown (we can't see behind our heads). Speakers of the Ayrama language who also speak spanish reverse their perception of time to the view that we are used to.