Steven Vincent Johnson wrote:
So, for those who truly wish to
> reduce the amount of energy expended on lighting the answer may not be
> to ban old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, as is the current trend, but to
> make them compulsory.
I have no idea what the last sentence means.
Make WHAT compulsory? Making the use of
incandescent light bulbs compulsory???? Are they serious????
Perhaps it is satire, like Frederic Bastiat's
suggestion in 1863 that windows be banned to
increase the sale of candles. That was coming
from the other direction -- a mock suggestion to
improve employment -- but the logic is similar:
"The Candlemakers Petition
We candlemakers are suffering from the unfair
competition of a foreign rival. This foreign
manufacturer of light has such an advantage over
us that he floods our domestic markets with his
product. And he offers it at an absurdly low
price. The moment this foreigner appears in our
country, all our customers desert us and turn to
him. As a result, an entire domestic industry is
rendered completely stagnant. And even more,
since the lighting industry has countless
ramifications with other national industries,
they too are injured. This foreign manufacturer
who competes with us without mercy is none other than the sun itself!
Here is our petition: Please pass a law ordering
the closing of all windows, skylights, shutters,
curtains, and blindsthat is, all openings,
holes, and cracks through which the light of the
sun is able to enter houses. This free sunlight
is hurting the business of us deserving
manufacturers of candles. Since we have always
served our country well, gratitude demands that
our country ought not to abandon us now to this unequal competition.
We hope that you gentlemen will not regard our
petition as mere satire, or refuse it without at
least hearing our reasons in support of it.
First, if you make it as difficult as possible
for people to have access to natural lightand
thus create an increased demand for artificial
lightwill not all domestic manufacturers be stimulated thereby? . . ."
See also his proposal to build a negative
railway, consisting of nothing other than gaps.
This was in response to a proposal in the French
Assembly that the Paris-Madrid railroad include a
gap at Bordeaux in order to enrich porters, hotelkeepers and others.
As Johnson points out here, the mistake here is
in thinking there is an infinitely large demand
for light, and that people will keep buying more
and more of it. The demand for any good or
service is limited, although some businessmen and
economists seem to believe otherwise. They have
the odd notion that people will purchase ever
increasing amounts of entertainment (movies,
video games), internet bandwidth, housing floorspace, and even food.
- Jed
