In the middle of summer, sunrise will be at 4:41am. That gives Queenslanders two or three hours, on average, of morning sunlight to enjoy doing whatever we wish to do, before going to work. We can go surfing, attend to the garden, do some... study, spend extra time with the Lord - or we and our employees can even come to work early if we wish to. It gives us total freedom.
Daylight Saving on the other hand sends its unfortunate subjects to work an hour early whether they or their employers wish to or not, robbing them of a whole hour of the best part of the day to do whatever they enjoy. Sure, Daylight Saving gives them that hour back again - but only at the end of a long, hot afternoon after they've already spent their most energetic hours for their employers.
In a Queensland summer, we have the freedom to choose how and when to spend that extra hour of sunlight - but Daylight Saving tells people they WILL go to work early and they WILL have that hour later in the afternoon whether they want it then or not. It robs people of the freedom of choice that we have in Queensland.
And there's something about calling four o'clock five o'clock that doesn't have a parallel in God's character. Four o'clock is four o'clock - that's a fact. It's not five o'clock. It's not in God's character to alter an absolute. But it's a trait of the political Left to mess with absolutes. They refer to God as "he or she"; to marriage as either heterosexual or same-sex; to redistributing other people's profits as the public's right if it suits; to abortion as something other than murder when it suits; same with euthanasia; same with legalizing narcotics. In the same way, there's something unnatural about calling four o'clock five o'clock - it isn't consistent with God's character, in my opinion. Daylight Saving is a natural ally of moral, cultural and political relativism.
It's no surprise therefore that it's the conservative States of Queensland and Western Australia that choose to stick to the freedom and integrity of Standard Time. The more traditional the morals, the more likely they are to want to stick to Standard Time. But our socialist/leftist Labor government wants to change that, even though we the people have already said No in a Referendum.
Given your thoughts, it wouldn't surprise me if you have never experienced daylight saving. Time zones are not an absolute, as you suggest. Time zones are arbitrary, but because time is universally accepted as the co-ordinator of activities, it therefore affects our lives being run by time-of-the clock. Daylight saving doesn't change any natural occurring event - four o'clock will still be 4 o'clock, just that the sun would be in a different position in the sky. Daylight saving in south-east Qld would provide greater opportunities for the community at large, to benefit, than is currently the case without it. According to Queensland government research, only 10% of residents in the state are out of bed before 5am and only 30% before 6am. That means that the vast majority do not gain any benefits from the south-east region's very early summer sunrises, but could better utilise that sun, if it was at the end of the day. There are laws that do not allow us to do activities that we may otherwise like to in the mornings, for example we can't mow the lawn before 7am. However if we had daylight saving, we could do those type of chores when we get home from work - without daylight saving, we can't because it is too dark. We could also take the kids to the park after work, something that is not really practical at 5am.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that daylight saving would not be suitable for regional areas of the state, however it would suit the majority of people in south-east Queensland. Not everyone said no in the referendum 20 years ago, in fact most people in the south-east said 'Yes'. Wonder how many people would say 'Yes' next time.
It feels like ideological relativism. Next, a government may want to pass euthanasia, abortion, gay-marriage, legalize narcotics - and redistribute individuals' wealth! I want to keep my freedom thanks - freedom to get up early in summer if I want to, and freedom not to if I don't want to. Freedom to have that extra hour to myself in summer in the morning if I want to, instead of being dictated-to that I must have that extra hour in the afternoon. Freedom for workers to agree with their foremen to start work an hour early if they want to, and freedom not to if they decide they don't want to.
ReplyDelete