I'm not going to give you all a history course here on the concept of DST, but basically, Daylight Saving Time was created, ostensibly, to encourage non-agrarian society - succinctly, "city folk" to make more efficient use of available sunlight. It was NOT, contradictorily to what your parents and teachers may have told you, invented "for the farmers". In fact, they despised DST because it meant that even though they continued to awaken at the same time every morning, by the clock, they had to wait an hour for the sun to come up and burn off the dew off their fields before tilling.
That's right - I bet you didn't know that: Daylight Saving Time does not "lengthen" the time the sun is up - instead, it delays the apparent times of both sunRISE and sunSET! I for one am an early riser, both because my work shift starts earlier than most, and because I awaken early even on the weekends. And I detest having to leave the house at 5:30 every morning, in darkness for most of the year, thanks to DST, to be at work by 6:00AM.
Here are several other facts that you may not have known about Daylight "Saving" Time:
- It's modern purpose - to conserve artificial lighting in the evenings, has been superseded by all the modern "gadgets" that care not when the sun rises or sets, nor need any kind of light to perform their roles. These include security systems, fax machines, computers and servers, and transmitters and repeaters for radio, television, and police and security facilities.
- DST actually increases energy usage, in two unexpected ways. 1. Under the current DST period, from March through early November, more people drive in the evenings because it is lighter, thus using more gasoline. 2. During the months of March, October, and November, when DST delays sunrise past 7:00AM, more energy is consumed to light and heat homes when people are getting up to get ready for work and prepare their children for school.
- Daylight Saving Time is simply an inconvenience all around, not to mention that the majority of ordinary people just "don't get" how it works or why they are adjusting their clocks twice yearly. In fact, a surprising percentage of people actually turn their clocks the wrong way in Spring or Fall, leading to even more confusion!
- Also, Daylight Saving Time may even be hazardous to your health! Statistics indicate a small but measurable spike in vehicular accidents after the switch to DST in March and after the return to Standard Time in November.
- Finally, neither the U.S. Government nor any other agency, public or private, has provided any document or proof that there has been any reduction of energy consumption or of crime during DST, both during it's present period of observation or during shorter periods of DST of the past.
In summation, I propose that all fifty United States and its outlying interests(U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, etc.) remain on Standard Time year round. Its benefits, real or imaginary, do not stand up to its disadvantages.
YOU CAN HELP!
If you can operate a computer and type, then you can help my cause - OUR cause - along. Simply write - snail mail or e-mail will do - letters echoing the above bullet points and mail them to representatives and senators on both your State and the Federal level. But do not stop there.
Encourage others to visit this blog, http://standard-time-now.blogspot.com/ and do the same. Our government was formed on the principle of "for the people, by the people, of the people", but it will not be handed to you on a platter.
So do your part!
Thank you,
-Chris
