Why I dropped out of my accounting degree

Accounting classes tried to teach me

that future value could

and often did exceed

present value

when discussing finances,

yet my biggest argument

wasn't the math.

The equations were sound,

the checks and balances

all came out properly

according to calculations.

But the philosophy of it

was what kept me up at night,

the idea that the future is promised

felt fundamentally flawed.

How can one be so sure

that their money would do them more good

left in a bond for thirty years

than used today

when we cannot be certain

our bodies even make it to the next month?

Only a fool feels such certainty,

only the ignorant can ignore

that time is the most priceless variable,

the one anomaly no equation

could ever account for.

So while future financial values of investments

line the pockets of millionaires

with a far bigger buffer

than most see in a lifetime,

the rest of us accrue

infinite debt.

They build their futures off our backs.

How could I ever support a system

built to guide corruption?

Maybe I'm just someone who dropped out

of my accounting classes,

maybe I'm so arrogant I don't see my own ignorance,

but forgive me because

I just don't agree with the fundamental idea

that future time value could ever exceed

the precious value of the present.