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Comment by thomasahle | Hacker News Reader

> it should be possible for a society to agree on things just starting an hour earlier

How would that ever work? I can't think of a single thing requiring near that level of coordination that we are able to do. Automatically changing peoples closed seems infinitely easier.

I understand some people don't like it, but don't pretend there is another way to move everything around. People are barely willing to do it as is.

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Why does it have to be a centrally coordinated shift? This is a decision that can be done in a decentralized way.

Outdoor venues already have seasonally shifting time tables. Schools in some places have successfully shifted from starting at 8:00 to 7:30 or 8:30. Shops adjust their opening hours all the time as well.

Because actions in society have to be coordinated and done in a certain order. What happens when suddenly your kids school starts an hour later but you still have to be at work at the same time? Many many things are based on routines at a set time each day that people plan for. If there’s going to be a seasonal change, it needs to be coordinated to not cause massive inconvenience. That’s what DST does.

The argument is basically "if the state-sponsored babysitters change their hours partway through the year it will be a massive headache for parents". But if such babysitting is so crucial to a functioning society, surely society can become a bit less rigid to accommodate it?

The people who really dislike the state don't use the state's schools anyway; this is more like "The post office, the courts, and the banks have done this for decades," so other businesses and individuals also find it convenient to use the same time conventions.

> The people who really dislike the state don't use the state's schools anyway;

Citation needed.

Well, in the Cincinnati area, there's https://catholicaoc.org/schools . They're not free.

Private schools also have start times. Not sure what your argument is.

Yeah, and they can decide for themselves what their start times are.

We don't need 300 millon people to experience jet lag twice a year to save some bougy superintendent the inconvenience of scribbling out a number and writing a different one one time.

Babybsitters? You might want to sit this one out.

To be clear, I think educators should and do serve a much more important role in society than mere babysitters. My choice of words was because so many people are raising the issue of “what about parents with rigid work schedules” as if school only exists so parents can work.

You could force schools and daycare to open and close early. Also do this with public companies. Offer a tax discount on the first hour for companies. I'm sure we can find other solutions.

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