RE: Money & Time

Wow. So many things to think about. The movie you mentioned sounds interesting. The concept reminds me a little of "Logan's Run." Have you seen that movie? It is old, but very good. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run_(film)

I think in some ways, money can buy time -- if you have a lot of money, you don't have to work as many hours. If you have money, some illnesses can be cured or treated. With money, sometimes you can save time by, for example, taking an airplane instead of a bus or train.

I read the book, "Walden," by Henry David Thoreau when I was about 23. It had a profound impact on how I view time and money (you can get it for free in the public domain if you are interested and have not read it https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/205).

Thoreau was Harvard educated, but a bit of a misfit in many ways. After his brother died (his brother cut his finger on a razor while shaving, got tetanus, and died, leaving Thoreau pretty devastated)... anyhow, then Thoreau went and built a cabin in the woods and lived by himself with nature for two years. Walden is the book he wrote about it. The expression "marching to the beat of your own drummer" comes from Thoreau, from that book.

Anyhow, Thoreau felt strongly that we have to seriously consider the amount of life that we give up for any given money and whether it is worth it. I think most people do not consider this. Many people work very hard to pay off a mortgage, save up for retirement, and, one day, when they finally have money, often, they are too old to enjoy it or too accustomed to hard work to relax.

I think there is an illusion that money can solve anything. It can help in many situations, but it is only a tool. Thoreau said it cannot buy one single necessity of the soul.

When my mother was very sick, nothing could be done. The healthcare system here is free. I am so grateful for that. Yet it didn't help in this case. In the end, the place they had for her, the "long term care" was so awful. It was, truly, like hell. She was not well enough to come home, and I used to cry for hours after every visit. She could not speak. But she worked so hard all her life and now this? You know, there were people there trying to escape because they were all locked in -- they had to lock the doors due to the residents' confusion, but, what hell, at the end of your life, to be locked up among people, many of whom are literally yelling for help all day. Why? Because they forget who they are, where they are, and why they are there. That is hell in my opinion. And there's nothing money can do about it, sadly.

I often wonder about our health care system. We save people from this, that, and the other thing, but then we leave them to rot, and I truly do mean rot, from what we cannot cure. Some people think the long term care centres do it because they are invested financially in keeping people alive, but I think it is an accidental consequence of good medical care.

I had a conversation with my fiancé's 91 year old grandmother before she passed. We talked about "good death." She feared lingering in illness and being in long term care. I was sad when she passed, but I was glad also that she passed quickly because that was her wish.

I think time is valuable. People equate money and value. Is money time or time money? It seems a mercenary way to view things, but maybe it's true.

P.S. I hope my words are not terribly depressing. They seem that way to me. How are you coping?

!LUV
!PIZZA