With Daylight Savings once again coming up, it never fails for it to spark discussions about its purpose in modern times. People hate it widely while few seem to be okay with it and depending where you live, others don’t even know what the deal is.
Politicians have actually put it on the docket to be voted on, but seems to have lost traction. Quite frankly, this is an issue that should be done and over with. Just end it, but please end it when we have the clocks dialed back than forward, because I wouldn’t like time going faster than it already is.
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The calendar’s arrangement, at least for America. I think would be better if we had 13 months, having 12 of them with exactly 30 days in their block. The 13th month has all the extra days, and is extended during a leap year. Coincidentally, elections for president should be held during the leap year, to give people an longer voting window.
During the voting window each year, the last five days of December, all the days in the 13th month, and the first 5 days of January, are eligible as vacation days. Voters pick five days during the 15 day voting window to be on paid vacation. If they fail to vote and have a job, their employer will be penalized with an amount of money that is double the pay of the worker for five days of work. Citizens, if they vote, get a $100 check from the government.
This creates a carrot for everyday people to vote, especially workers. Employers are punished if they try to interfere with voting and vacation days during the voting season, which in turn makes it easier for people to participate in democracy. The vacation days allow for research, to have ample time to send a ballot or go to the booth.
Also, I personally dislike the regular months having variable lengths. It is disorderly and annoying, to have them stretch and bend seemingly at random.
The Electoral College
If we want to say we’re a democracy then we need to be a democracy.,
Executive Orders in the U.S. political system
I’m Canada we have the “Notwithstanding clause” which can serve a similar function; allowing a premier to unilaterally decide something without the approval of parliament.
Neither should be allowed to exist.
Also remove the entire idea of some countries having “veto” power in NATO and UN matters.
Problem is, the president is head of the executive and is supposed to give orders and tell the government employees what to do, within the law. How can the executive orders be avoided?
Here in Canada, parliament has been discussing universal basic income for years. Economists have proven it would save the government money. It would be a win-win. Do it already.
Canada did a study trial of UBI. People who could physically work ended up getting jobs while on it.
But, this is not the reality that sells in suburban Canada.
People are driven to work for fulfillment and nobody likes being poor. People will always try to make as much money as possible. The “welfare king/queen” is a rare mentality, most people are not content with being poor.
I think they’re doing another trial right away, and one of them’s in BC where Doug Ford can’t get at it.
Don’t worry we have plenty of asshat conservatives here we well
Oof, where do I begin?
- Fossil fuel companies
- cruises
- diesel cars
- low-cost fast fashion retail companies
- modern slavery
- racism
- misinformation
- political scapegoats
- two-party systems
- billionaires
- polyester
- Artificial food colouring
- non-medical drugs and smoking
- alcohol
- low-cost greasy fast-food chains
- kids on social media
I’m tired! 😩 We’ve normalised unhealthy, unsustainable, and elitist lifestyles way too much! There are ways to be successful, happy, stylish, and joyful without these things. Many countries are already committing themselves to such efforts, so I know I’m not asking for much. I understand freedom of choice, and I’m usually quite libertarian, but some things just bring temporary fun and no benefits at all. In fact, some harm those around us too.
Renewable energy, electric cars, second-hand retail, artisanship, fair trade, multiculturalism, science-based education based on facts and credible sources, government transparency and accountability, a true democracy where the electoral candidates actually represent their party’s base and voters don’t feel hopeless, economic equality, socialism, natural fibres in fabrics, simple and natural food, therapy, mindfulness, healthy homemade packaged food, and kids staying off social media needs to be good again!
diesel cars
Gone for good reasons.
missing one Universal healthcare or using part of the defense budget to fund/subsidized Healthcare for all in the US.
easier to get proof citizen documents/things, like passport right now its a convoluted , lenghty process for first time, and Inactive users for things like passports.
Yeah sorry, we already have free and universal healthcare so I didn’t think of it 😅 But you’re right! My mind boggles at how terrible the healthcare system is in the US. I feel awful for people with chronic conditions and vulnerable situations, especially. The fact that the most reliable option is not to be insured and hope that you won’t ever get seriously injured or sick is depressing. The people who oppose universal free healthcare and those who deny healthcare to the less fortunate are evil. I know it’s obvious, but Luigi Mangione (or whoever it was) did a good thing. I wish it were all of them, but at least he got you rid of one asshole.
funny thing is conservatives are ON ACA, but they dont want to expand it or use it all. they have propagandized by fox that its "obamacare’ so they cant make that distinction that it was dem majority that had the law. and why the gop have a difficult time of removing it.
people with chronic disease are often disliked by insurance, because they know they would cost more, so they charge more for it. Also each company has thier convoluted payment systems.
Yeah that was a jawdropping discovery… How people just decide to shoot themselves in the foot because the media told them some fake news. I heard some didn’t even know that they were benefitting from that Act. It’s ridiculous!
And yeah, I know the jist of how it works (not!) :/ It’s not like people choose to become chronically ill… I’m just sorry for the people who still have to live with the consequences of the actions by a bunch of obese anti-vaxxers who will be dead in a couple of years. This is why I believe that the insurance companies and those who voted against the ACA are murderers. They kill innocent people with them.
Interestingly
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-adopting-year-round-daylight-time-9.7111657
We just got rid of it
Doesn’t that mean keeping it forever?
Define “it.”
Daylight savings. Daylight savings is one hour forward, which is the state being kept, no?
We’re going to stick to the summer time all year instead of the winter time
Disposable plastic. It should never have been a thing, but by now it really shouldn’t be a thing. No plastic food containers, no plastic textiles, damn near everything should be in cotton bags or paper boxes or glass jars or unlined metal cans but we’re so damn accustomed to convenience that the permanent externality is seen as necessary. I’m willing to make allowances for safety and medicine but even there the focus should be developing good biodegradable plastic.
People with young kids do not want daylight savings time all year around because it would be dark when they go to school. People like myself would like dst all year around because we hate it being dark at 4pm.
I hate this argument. Sorry.
Just start school later. The day is the same either way, choose to have school hours or winter hours.
And by the way, even if it is dark, so what? There are kids all over the world that go to school in the dark it really doesn’t matter.
Just shift you schedule accordingly, the number really doesn’t matter much.
Yeah I don’t find especiall persuasive myself but let me tell you. You want to control a population then make sure they have kids. Because nothing is going to matter for that person at that point over their kids (or most people anyway). So voting wise anyway you basically have this large group that are going to go ape trump on anyone suggesting it. Changing the school day has issues because its time has to fit with parents major work schedules. so the 9 to 5. The school day starts just after 8 partially so they can drop off the kids then go to work. No idea how they are picking them up but I can say my wfh places was pretty easy going with parents being on meetings while in the car picking up kids or taking 20 mins to do it.
I’d rather have accurate noon / celestial time for the few months it is still allowed and still have to switch twice a year than let the government make wrong-noon (“daylight saving”) time permanent. So, many of the “end time switching” movements I actively resist rather than support.
I imagine things like this aren’t “done and over” because there is no majority opinion.
RCV / a Condorcet Method might help.
I’m confused, why would “Accurate Noon” be important? And for countries that sit far enough from the equator, wouldn’t it be inaccurate regardless?
I’m confused, why would “Accurate Noon” be important?
Why is any particular time important? It serves me to be able to tell time without a clock and synchronize my internal clock with solar activity.
And for countries that sit far enough from the equator, wouldn’t it be inaccurate regardless?
No. Distance from the equator doesn’t significantly affect when the sun it at it’s peak. It does affect how high in the sky the peak is.
Time adjustments (like “daylight saving”) drags the Sun E/W (which is why we “need” timezones). Increasing latitude dags the Sun N/S.
On the topic of daylight savings, I used to prefer that we stay on the daylight savings side of the time. But honestly at this point I am fine with staying on standard time if that means no more switching.
Otherwise one thing lately that I wish was done and over with by now is physical junk mail. Literal paper showing up in my mailbox that I now have to dispose of. Something I don’t ask for and will never look at. And I can’t help but think that happens to millions in my country every single day all for an irrelevant number of people to even look at. I can’t imagine how many trees are lost each year for something that has zero usefulness.
I want to stay on daylight saving time year round. I agree, the fact that we keep changing the time twice a year is ridiculous. There’s no reason. Who is demanding we do this? We’re doing it solely because of tradition, like in the story “The Lottery” where they stone a random person to death every year for no reason, just because of tradition. Ironically, this is something I can see Trump getting rid of, it would be one of the very few things I’d support him on (along with abolishing pennies)
I’ve been doing it for 45 years, still don’t understand why people care so much
Because assholes in a society don’t like being told what to do. Not like we don’t have actual problems to deal with.
Neither time matters, it’s all the same. But don’t change it!
Its the adjustment that sucks.
Daylight is going to be the same length either way, it’s just an arbitrary number, but if you keep changing that number it gets very annoying.
Noon should be as close to zenith as possible, tho. But yeah, it’s more important to keep the same timezone all year.
Let’s go for maximum chaos. Set the Solar zenith to 1 AM.
Nah, set it to 11 FM.
I don’t agree universally, from a societal standpoint, because Dolly Parton sang about the 9-5. While standard time keeps my noon within 20 minutes of zenith, my temperate zone winter solstice sun rises at 7am (I get up at 8) and sets at 4pm (I leave work at 5pm). I drive in with plenty of light but leave in nearly full night time. Living in DST with zenith around 1pm would let me at least drive home at sunset. Would it really make winter life acceptable, though? Maybe, maybe not. I’m sure the temperature is a major factor as I can’t remember the last time summer sunset ended the day for me.
Still, I get it for when you had to manually set clocks based on the sun, but we have time zones and automatic syncs now. With rigid time zones, everybody has some inaccuracy at some point to the zenith anyway. Even if you’re dead center for the winter solstice, the true zenith location slides East for the spring equinox, returns for the summer solstice (though will be 1pm with DST), and then slides west for the fall equinox. The variation is more extreme nearer the poles. Then you have extreme cases with places like China and India, with single time zones across the countries and 70-80 minutes of zenith variation across the majority of the population (excluding China’s western half).
The Jones Act.
I still propose to turn the clock halfway between standard and dst.
Why have one extreme when you can do middle?
There are already countries doing that like Sri Lanka.Pennies buckles and dimes. Inflation has rendered anything less than a quarter useless.
I like the idea of redenominating the currency instead. We issue a v2.0 of the dollar. No existing dollars are rendered invalid. You just start issuing new coins with 100x value. The new penny is worth one old dollar.
What are we, Zimbabwe?
People like to react that way to the idea, but it need not need be the purview of tinpot dictators. It’s good for a country to have a small amount of inflation. If your country is successful enough to maintain its currency for centuries without collapse or revolution, your currency will inevitably be devalued to the point of comedy. It should be just a reasonable thing for countries with healthy economies to do once every century or two. Sure if you do it every other year, it means you have a problem. But if it’s done only every few generations, it’s not something we should be afraid to do.
Hey I need those buckles!
