“Of all measurement instruments, the clock is the most valuable because so many of the things we sacrifice to create are not fungible. The massive clock towers of Europe, with their enormous loud and resonant bells, broadcasting time, fairly across the town and even the countryside, rather than the last relics of the medieval, were the first building block of the wealthy modern world.” -- Nick Szabo

A Measure of Sacrifice by Nick Szabo from 2002
https://nakamotoinstitute.org/library/a-measure-of-sacrifice