Who should control the temperature in your home? What
will happen if someone a thousand miles away controls it? That
person doesn't even know the temperature in your house. He
doesn't know what you want the temperature to be. He also
controls the heat for all the rest of the homes in the country.
The heat controller collects such information as he can.
He calculates the average temperature in all houses. Next, he
determines how much energy is needed to change the
temperature in the average house.
The controller decides that the average temperature in all
homes in 83 degrees. His target temperature is 68 degrees.
Based on the average capacity of air conditioners, the controller
decides that everyone's air conditioner should run for three hours
to achieve the desired average temperature. Then he sends out
the commands. Will you soon be comfortable?
What if you want 74 or 64 degrees? Don't worry. You
have as much chance of getting one of those temperatures as of
getting 68 degrees. I left out a few details.
It takes time to collect and analyze data. By time the
controller reached his decision it was November 17. He then
knew the average temperature of homes on July 23. By the
time the commands are executed it will be January.
What are the chances that cranking up everyone's air
conditioners in January will make you comfortable? It may be
the right choice for a few people in California, Texas and
Florida. Doing nothing would most likely be better for the rest.
At least doing noting wouldn't add to their discomfort.
Any time we rely on distant controllers to provide one
size fits all solutions we face the same insurmountable obstacles.
The controller will always be operating on historical data, not
current conditions. Also, there will always be time lags in
implementing whatever "solutions" the controller devises.
Besides, the controller will of necessity use average data
that fails to recognize the real conditions facing most people.
Even blind luck can't bring success. If the temperature
controller some how guessed the right average amount of heating
or cooling, the amount would still be wrong for most homes.
Unless all homes are identical and experience identical weather
conditions, the "solution" wouldn't be a solution. Even then the
people who didn't want 68 degrees would still be out of luck.
Central control of schools, the economy, medical
services, etc. are all doomed to get results that almost no one
wants. The basic problem isn't the lack of ability or dishonesty
of the controllers. The problem is that they will always be using
a flawed approach that can't work. If we want success we must
abandon the concept of central control.
We can't fix central control. It isn't merely broken. It
has unfixable inherent defects. Republicans have no more
chance of fixing it than do Democrats.
The solution is the spontaneous order that is achieved by
free people. Let everyone set his own thermostat. When
individuals set their own thermostats they consider the real
circumstances, including costs. They don't decide based on
averages, or someone else's preferences. They also reap the
benefits and pay the costs of their choices.
The sum of the results of all the choices determines
prices. Prices in turn determine production. The prices for heat
interact with the prices for corn flakes and everything else.
Those prices then determine wages and the price of natural
resources for all the branches of production.
As a result production is constantly shifted toward what
consumers want the most. And, each person is rewarded for the
value he contributes for others. For those who want to control
what others consume, this isn't a happy solution. For those
willing to live and let live and who want to prosper, it is the best
that is humanly possible.
aldmccallum@gmail.com
* * * * *
* * * *
* * *
* *
*
will happen if someone a thousand miles away controls it? That
person doesn't even know the temperature in your house. He
doesn't know what you want the temperature to be. He also
controls the heat for all the rest of the homes in the country.
The heat controller collects such information as he can.
He calculates the average temperature in all houses. Next, he
determines how much energy is needed to change the
temperature in the average house.
The controller decides that the average temperature in all
homes in 83 degrees. His target temperature is 68 degrees.
Based on the average capacity of air conditioners, the controller
decides that everyone's air conditioner should run for three hours
to achieve the desired average temperature. Then he sends out
the commands. Will you soon be comfortable?
What if you want 74 or 64 degrees? Don't worry. You
have as much chance of getting one of those temperatures as of
getting 68 degrees. I left out a few details.
It takes time to collect and analyze data. By time the
controller reached his decision it was November 17. He then
knew the average temperature of homes on July 23. By the
time the commands are executed it will be January.
What are the chances that cranking up everyone's air
conditioners in January will make you comfortable? It may be
the right choice for a few people in California, Texas and
Florida. Doing nothing would most likely be better for the rest.
At least doing noting wouldn't add to their discomfort.
Any time we rely on distant controllers to provide one
size fits all solutions we face the same insurmountable obstacles.
The controller will always be operating on historical data, not
current conditions. Also, there will always be time lags in
implementing whatever "solutions" the controller devises.
Besides, the controller will of necessity use average data
that fails to recognize the real conditions facing most people.
Even blind luck can't bring success. If the temperature
controller some how guessed the right average amount of heating
or cooling, the amount would still be wrong for most homes.
Unless all homes are identical and experience identical weather
conditions, the "solution" wouldn't be a solution. Even then the
people who didn't want 68 degrees would still be out of luck.
Central control of schools, the economy, medical
services, etc. are all doomed to get results that almost no one
wants. The basic problem isn't the lack of ability or dishonesty
of the controllers. The problem is that they will always be using
a flawed approach that can't work. If we want success we must
abandon the concept of central control.
We can't fix central control. It isn't merely broken. It
has unfixable inherent defects. Republicans have no more
chance of fixing it than do Democrats.
The solution is the spontaneous order that is achieved by
free people. Let everyone set his own thermostat. When
individuals set their own thermostats they consider the real
circumstances, including costs. They don't decide based on
averages, or someone else's preferences. They also reap the
benefits and pay the costs of their choices.
The sum of the results of all the choices determines
prices. Prices in turn determine production. The prices for heat
interact with the prices for corn flakes and everything else.
Those prices then determine wages and the price of natural
resources for all the branches of production.
As a result production is constantly shifted toward what
consumers want the most. And, each person is rewarded for the
value he contributes for others. For those who want to control
what others consume, this isn't a happy solution. For those
willing to live and let live and who want to prosper, it is the best
that is humanly possible.
aldmccallum@gmail.com
* * * * *
* * * *
* * *
* *
*
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