I cannot think of a more perfect encapsulation of the vulgar, philistine authoritarianism that dominates public policy today than the mandated use of the LED light bulb. And not even this bulb directly, but the persecution and injustice performed upon the incandescent bulb, which has been banished to the nether realm in the name of the antediluvian ideal of “energy efficiency”. The LED bulb, an abomination that no one would use voluntarily, has emerged as the default option, and now pollutes the night with its wretched glare.
These LED bulbs are not benign in the least. They flicker, albeit imperceptibly, but enough that you are registering it without noticing it, which is why you instinctively despise these bulbs. These bulbs have been linked to a host of debilitating conditions as well.
The blame for this LED-lit nightmarescape that reanimates each night in cities across the U.S. can be squarely placed on the crony boondoggle that goes by the name of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which has been slowly phasing out the incandescent bulb entirely.
Fortunately, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. Real light, not the faux light strobe show that we are currently suffering under. Trump, of all people, has put applied the brakes on the complete phase-out of incandescent bulbs.
Let the bulbs stand on their own merits. If anyone feels the need to bathe their home in, or expose their psyche to, a tint more suited to a nightmare, let them. But for those of us that prefer real light, let us also have that option. Let’s take compulsion out of picture. I’d bet that, given the option, most people would jettison these hateful bulbs en masse, and return to real light. As far as public lighting goes, I imagine the they wouldn’t even bother to wait for a formal resolution from the office of the mayor, but would instead scale the fixtures bodily and install new, beautiful incandescent bulbs on their own dime. No more of the spectral white glow vaguely reminiscent of radioactivity, no more avoiding certain streets in the evening, streets that should be just as charming at night as they are during the day.
The miserable saga of the LED bulb illustrates the pure evil inherent in mass compulsion via legislation. The people, voting with their dollar, make more and far wiser decisions each and every day than Congress ever could. It’s a true meritocracy, and should be allowed to operate freely. Any interference with the process results in what you see almost everywhere today. LED bulb-level blunders abound. All that’s needed is a swift removal of whatever legislated compulsion that resulted in the societal debacle, and stand back and let society itself heal the wounds inflicted by an overstepping government.
