Maria Kathryna E.

Denaga
ECON1N (7:30 9:00 AM MW)
8/03/2016
Reaction Paper: In Time
In a world where everything is limited, some people get to receive more and
others do not receive anything at all. Simply put, not everyone gets everything. This
is the norm reflected in the movie In Time.
As the movie title suggests, it talks about time not only as an infinite
measurement but as a rationing device. Instead of using money to buy things,
people in this dystopian setting use time to allocate things other than determine
what day it is. In an economic-sense, exchanging good with time is not as easy as it
may seem for even inflation in price while getting minimum wage is observed. That
is where things get complicated. As the story progresses, the concept of time
somehow makes it as important as our common rationing device today money. You
cant gamble with it easily.
There is this one concept in organic chemistry I would like to relate the
situation of the story to. Its called Markovnikovs Rule. This concept relates on how
bigger atoms attach to a certain carbon bond with more carbon atoms attached to
it. In other words, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. This principle is what is
observed mostly in this movie. Seeing that most characters in the story are of poor
and humble background, working for something used with double importance is no
easy money. Literally. Its both a constant battle between life and death everyday
which, to me, is really disturbing.
On the bright side, it really has some meaningful wisdom for me to learn as a
young adult. Speaking in terms of the concept of time, it is important that one
cherishes it while there are still seconds left for one to live. In terms of money,
though I dont consider it as important as time, being wise in using it is essential. If
one converts a hundred years to cash, gambling with it is really a risk. Its like
gambling with your own life.
What I consider the most valuable lesson for me to pick up is to consider life
as a blessing. God gave us every single day as an account of His blessing to us.
What we do with it is our account to Him. When we are wasting precious days given
to us, its literally wasting our time here on earth. If time was a currency, it wouldnt
matter if much is spent so long as it is spent wisely, not recklessly.