Saturday, October 31, 2009
Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?
Jeff Hummel passes along this op ed by William Shugart on daylight saving:
"We are the government. We certify your birth, marriage, and death. Any amount of the paycheck with your name on it, that you get to keep, is a 'tax expenditure' on our part. If you fail to pay sufficient property taxes--the amount being decided by us, not you--then we take our rightful property away from you. We are the State. You don't even know what time it is until we tell you."
Although daylight-saving time was sold politically as an energy-conservation measure, it does no such thing. Studies conducted in Indiana prior to 2006, when that state operated under three different time regimes, show either no difference in energy consumption or a small increase in power usage during the months after clocks were moved one hour ahead.I cannot prove it, and I suspect no one ever will, but I think the primary reason for the "daylight saving" nonsense is that it reinforces the notion that the State is omnipotent.
...
Yet the costs of switching between daylight-saving and standard time go far beyond the hassles of “losing” an hour in the springtime and “gaining” it back in the fall.
...
A Swedish study...reports increases in the incidence of myocardial infarction (heart attack) after the beginning of daylight-saving time and the subsequent return to standard time. Depending on whether the shift occurred in the fall or spring, men and women were found to vary in the extent to which their heart attack risks were increased, but the study's authors concluded from the clinical evidence that time change triggered more myocardial infarctions in the two groups overall than they would have suffered otherwise.
...
It would be cold comfort were only a small fraction of the population subject to the untoward health consequences of time shifting. That is because, as the Swedish study notes, more than 1.5 billion people around the globe are exposed to the transitions demanded of them at the beginning and ending of daylight-saving time. Many of the companies located overseas that provide technical support or other services to U.S. businesses operate on New York time. Workers in Manila, Mumbai and elsewhere therefore must adjust their clocks twice a year even if their own nations have not officially adopted the institution of what in some places is called summer time.
...
Adding to the bill, some students of daylight-saving time suggest that accidents involving pedestrians spike immediately after the return to standard time as well, because drivers have not yet adjusted to commuting home in the dark.
There are few, if any, measurable benefits from switching to daylight-saving time in the spring and back to standard time at the end of October. But time shifting imposes some very real costs.
Those costs, we now suspect, are not limited to feeling out of sorts temporarily or investing effort in adjusting clocks rather than doing something more enjoyable or productive. The twice-a-year ritual of time travel actually kills.
"We are the government. We certify your birth, marriage, and death. Any amount of the paycheck with your name on it, that you get to keep, is a 'tax expenditure' on our part. If you fail to pay sufficient property taxes--the amount being decided by us, not you--then we take our rightful property away from you. We are the State. You don't even know what time it is until we tell you."
Comments:
They do it because they can. But the only way to show the masses that they can do it is to do it -- they (government) have no other choice.
So one could argue that they do it because they have to do it. It's just one of the hardships of lording over others.
note: Even the bully must blacken some eyes every now and again -- whether he wants to or not.
So one could argue that they do it because they have to do it. It's just one of the hardships of lording over others.
note: Even the bully must blacken some eyes every now and again -- whether he wants to or not.
Just sent this to my octogenarian parents in France (which recently switched to "winter" time). Hope it doesn't give them a heart-attack...
# posted by 
: November 1, 2009 at 5:01 AM
: November 1, 2009 at 5:01 AM
My parents reply, daylight-saving time was introduced during WWII in the UK in order to allow British farmers to grow more and make Britain self-sufficient (German U-boats were sinking ships importing food). Why it was not stopped after the war, tho?
# posted by : November 1, 2009 at 5:17 AM
: November 1, 2009 at 5:17 AM
I was for some reason under the impression that DST was introduced in order for kids not to have to walk to and from school in the dark?
# posted by : November 1, 2009 at 10:17 AM
: November 1, 2009 at 10:17 AM
The Blackadder Says:
Actually, if you read David Prerau's Seize the Daylight (a history of daylight saving time) it turns out that the motive force behind the spread of DST in the U.S. was Wall Street (in Britain it was the dirty socialists). Stockbrokers didn't want to give up the hour of simultaneous trading on the London and New York exchanges that DST allowed, so they adopted it, which led NYC to adopt it, and it slowly spread out from there, till all that was left were a few hold out areas that could be used to confuse Democratic staffers.
Actually, if you read David Prerau's Seize the Daylight (a history of daylight saving time) it turns out that the motive force behind the spread of DST in the U.S. was Wall Street (in Britain it was the dirty socialists). Stockbrokers didn't want to give up the hour of simultaneous trading on the London and New York exchanges that DST allowed, so they adopted it, which led NYC to adopt it, and it slowly spread out from there, till all that was left were a few hold out areas that could be used to confuse Democratic staffers.
# posted by : November 1, 2009 at 10:32 AM
: November 1, 2009 at 10:32 AM
The Blackadder Says:
My parents reply, daylight-saving time was introduced during WWII in the UK in order to allow British farmers to grow more and make Britain self-sufficient
From talking with people, the farmers explanation seems to be a quite common one, but it's not correct historically. Here's the thing: wheat doesn't know that it's daylight saving time. Neither do cows. Farmers were actually some of the biggest foes of DST in the U.S., because it meant that half the year they were expected to get produce to market an hour earlier without being able to start an hour earlier (since you can't tell a cow that it's really 5:00 am not 4:00 because of DST).
My parents reply, daylight-saving time was introduced during WWII in the UK in order to allow British farmers to grow more and make Britain self-sufficient
From talking with people, the farmers explanation seems to be a quite common one, but it's not correct historically. Here's the thing: wheat doesn't know that it's daylight saving time. Neither do cows. Farmers were actually some of the biggest foes of DST in the U.S., because it meant that half the year they were expected to get produce to market an hour earlier without being able to start an hour earlier (since you can't tell a cow that it's really 5:00 am not 4:00 because of DST).
# posted by : November 1, 2009 at 10:43 AM
: November 1, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Oh come off it, you don't actually believe the explanation you gave do you?
# posted by : November 1, 2009 at 11:34 AM
: November 1, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Based on what I know of politicians, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't introduced so that crops would have more sunlight to grow in.
# posted by : November 1, 2009 at 5:09 PM
: November 1, 2009 at 5:09 PM
A couple of years ago they switched from a 6 month regime to something like 8-4. As DST was also the time to replace your smoke detector batteries, I predicted an increase in fatal fires at the end of the longer interval. I was pretty proud of myself for that observation.
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# posted by : November 2, 2009 at 9:29 PM
: November 2, 2009 at 9:29 PM Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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