This is a dangerous excuse. I have spent a lot of time debating this very common excuse for a variety of things. I have argued for Inertia while my buddy Stu has argued for Revealed Preference. Revealed Preference says that what you actually do says more about what is important to you than what you say you want to do. I have always thought that our short-term impulsive self just lacks the discipline and a catalyst to get cracking, i.e. Inertia. Both reasons aren't very forgiving.
Perhaps the truth is less harsh on those using the excuse. Perhaps we are so busy and have so many conflicting goals that we never really stop to breathe and decide what to do with our time. We end up going with the flow. One step on the path leads to another. We only have so much energy and so when the 'free time' arises, we don't use it as we would like. Not because we can't get started, or because we want to do nothing - but just because we are tired. We have chosen a path, and that unfortunately means other paths get excluded.
Whatever the reason is, I do find it interesting that we don't consider time a bigger part of wealth. A CEO earning bundles of cash is more than likely very time poor. That doesn't get considered when looking at measures of equality.
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