I follow an account on X that advocates for deleting "Daylight Saving Time". This has resulted in debates with DST advocates, which has taught me some things about their view of the world.
Primarily, and at the foundation, nearly all supporters of DST believe anyone who prefers standard time is a "lazy bum who wants to sleep all day". This is where every discussion eventually ends up. It's their gotcha.
Beyond that--
I've come to discover how few of them realize the sun sets later (and rises earlier) in the summer, giving more hours of daylight no matter what you do with the clocks. I thought everyone knew this. Apparently not.
They'll argue that "everyone prefers DST", but when I suggest that if this is the case, businesses will simply choose to open and close an hour earlier in summer to make people happy (like they are already doing under DST, while pretending this isn't what they are doing), I'm told this wouldn't work because there are too many "lazy bums who want to sleep all day".
They'll claim they don't care which clock setting is chosen, as long as the clock changing stops. But, when I say, "OK, then we can just stay on standard time", they have a meltdown, saying that's not what they meant. Then it goes back to accommodating "lazy bums".
If pressed at this point, they'll even say we need to keep the twice-a-year "time change" to avoid staying with permanent standard time.
There's more--
They've told me there's no such thing as circadian rhythms.
I've been told it doesn't matter where the hands of the clock point (as long as the clock is on DST) so I shouldn't care-- while they express how deeply they care that I be forced to adopt their clock setting.
They've told me that time zones are arbitrary (which suggests they've never traveled very far east or west); apparently unaware they are based on when the sun is at its zenith in a general region.
If we're going to ignore noon anyway, let's just adopt the One World Clock (UTC), and go with that (which I oppose as much as I oppose DST). But they don't like that, either.
They've told me that permanent standard time would disrupt international business and put America out of sync with the rest of the world. I don't even know how to respond to that weapons-grade lack of awareness.
They've told me that people who want permanent standard time don't love their kids (or don't have kids) and don't want their kids to have the "extra" daylight.
But, mostly, I'm told-- time after time-- that if I don't embrace DST it's only because I am a lazy bum who wants to sleep all day. And that, to them, ends the discussion.
Show your support.
If there's going to be a government time standard -- I don't think there should be, because I don't support political government at all -- it should be a single standard.
ReplyDeleteI don't particularly care whether it's what's currently called "standard time" or what's currently called "daylight saving time." Just pick one and stop the twice annual switching.
If I had to pick one, I'd pick DST for personal reasons (I like having daylight later into the "evening" when my wife is home from work), but I could easily live with either one.
To the extent possible in this authoritarian society, I have dispensed with the willing acceptance of such social compliance as participating in its trivial and frivolous DST nonsense and use standard time year round, a task that became even easier after my retirement. I only wish it were as easy and cost free to abstain from other social impositions; taxes come to mind in this regard! If society had any respect for the desires and individual preferences of its members, the choice of work hours would be far more readily tailored to their choices than to an unnecessary uniformity.
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