The lights of Europe are going out … or going garish

As reported at Galliawatch, the hideous spiritual darkness of the EU is about to become physical darkness as well. As an energy saving measure to stave off global warming, the European Commission is moving toward banning incandescent light bulbs for the entire continent.

In Atlas Shrugged, the moment that signaled the collapse of the collectivist looters’ regime was when the lights of New York went out. In Europe, the moment that will signal the moral exhaustion of the EU regime, though not yet its actual end, may be when all filament light bulbs are replaced by darker bulbs, and the entire continent begins to look like the American television dramas of recent years in which the scenes take place in half-darkness and you can barely see the actors’ faces. Those shows reflect the liberal view of society as immersed in guilt and moral doubt. It’s fitting that liberals are now adopting the same look for the real world as well.

If light symbolizes the consciousness and joy of God, as in C.S. Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet, what does half-darkness symbolize?

- end of initial entry -

Ken Hechtman writes from Canada:

Not even close. The EU doesn’t want darkness. The EU wants to switch over to these. They cast exactly the same light as an incandescent bulb while drawing 1/4 the power. I converted my home to the things about 16-17 years ago when only the big wholesalers had them and they cost $35 a pop. Back then, it took the full five year life of the bulb for the energy saving to pay for itself.

Now you can get them at any hardware store, they cost about twice the price of an incandescent and pay for themselves in the first few months. Forget about global warming, unless you like paying electric bills, there’s no good reason to use anything else.

LA replies:

I’m glad to hear it. I was basing my “darkness” comments in part on Angela Merkel’s saying that with the new-style light bulbs her own home is dark. Also, based on the fact that these new bulbs, notwithstanding their high-tech nature, are still fluorescent lights which do not cast the same kind of light as incandescent bulbs, I’m not sure it’s correct that they are equally as bright. A human world lit by fluorescent light bulbs will not have the brilliance of one lit by filament bulbs.

Mr. Hechtman replies:

If you replace 60 watt incandescents with 9 watt compact fluorescents or even 13s, yes, your home will be darker. I replaced my 60s with 18 watt CFLs and my apartment is as bright as an operating room.

The problem with CFLs is they’re heavy on the green-to-blue spectrum. Humans need yellow-to-red light, especially in the winter when we don’t get it from the sun. You can get that spectrum from compact high-pressure sodium bulbs (sunlamps) but the industry hasn’t been nearly as good about getting those out to the mass market. I have one I had custom-built, but that’s not a universal solution. We need to be able to buy an HPS bulb at the hardware store and screw it into any household fixture, no ballast, no nothing. But we’re not there yet.

When I posted the original entry, I had written to Tiberge at Galliawatch pointing out that the Reuters article she had linked did not say what type of bulb was replacing the filament bulbs (though I’ve since learned that they are simply a type of fluorecent bulb).

She replies:

No it doesn’t. But it says that the new product is on the market—I think it’s the type of bulb in the photo to the left. Can’t we assume it’s something like fluorescent? I don’t know anything about halogen—is that energy-saving? The energy-saving bulbs I’ve used have all been incandescent and I haven’t been happy with the rather dull light they give. Fluorescent is ghastly—even when I was young, looking at myself under fluorescent lighting was a terrifying experience.

If they banned rap music and nose-rings and immigration, I’d feel a lot better.

LA replies:

I agree that fluorescent light is ghastly and anti-human and makes people look like corpses in a morgue.

So this is the end of Western man: not with a bang (i.e. the lights literally go out), but with a whimper.

Tiberge replies:

Well, I’m glad to hear we’ll have homes as bright as operating rooms! You did mention autopsy procedures didn’t you?

I wonder how many marriages will last in brightly lit fluorescent homes with blue-green tint!

I’m sure they’ll come up with a solution, eventually. Maybe they could use tinted glass for the fluorescent bulbs—pale pink or yellow, just to soften the effect.

LA replies:

“I wonder how many marriages will last in brightly lit fluorescent homes with blue-green tint!”

That certainly gets to the core of the problem.

Whenever I am in an office or a bus with bright flurescent lighting my soul shrinks.

Gintas J. writes:

It’s so bad that in my office at work, I have the lights off. Even during the long winter, I’d rather sit in the dark rather than work under fluorescent light (I do have the glow from my monitor). It’s light for the undead, worse than being dead (in the dark).

Robert B. writes:

I trust you are feeling better, so do not run out and buy fluorescent bulbs anytime soon. Here’s why:

Fluorescent lighting has a much higher flicker rate then incandescent lighting. Studies have shown for a very long time that workers who work under them show signs of fatigue, irritability, loss of productivity, etc. over those who work under incandescent lighting. Business (generally) choses the short term financial rewards of the fluorescent bulb of the long term gains of productivity, etc. with incandescent bulbs. The flicker effect is very much akin to the early computer monitors and their resulting eyestrain—often leading to early retina failure.

Incandescent lighting more closely mirrors the Sun’s light spectrum— which is what our eyes are meant to use. Candles actually emit the most “user friendly” light.

Here are some articles on this: here, here, and here.

Larry G. writes:

The compact fluorescent bulbs have changed for the better. I find them a bit yellowish, but they can be as bright or even brighter than an incandescent for 1/4 the electrical cost. They work well in lamps you leave on a lot, such as a reading lamp. They’re useful over a vanity to maintain humility. Don’t use one close to am AM radio or a wireless mouse because the bulb will cause radio interference. Don’t use them where perfect color fidelity is needed, such as in a closet. You might try a couple just to see if they are as bad as you remember, or not.

LA replies:

Yes, it seems they could be used for less essential lighting needs, as a supplement to regular lights, as a night-time light, things like that. But how would you feel if incandescent bulbs were banished altogether as is about to happen in the People’s Republics of Europe??

J. writes:

I dislike typical blue-white fluorescents as much as you do, for the same “spiritual” reasons. However, the new CF bulbs do produce a warm light, provided you pick one in a “warm” color spectrum (designated something like “2700K”). Values higher than 3000K or so are more pure white and “cold.” The tints among the warm bulbs vary a little, sometimes a touch pink, sometimes more yellow, occasionally a little green (I get rid of these), you just have to test the individual brand. Picking a good lampshade is helpful, the more golden the shade, the warmer the light.

Most people don’t care about lighting, though, I don’t know why. I always find the American preference for indiscriminate, glaring, unshielded overhead lighting (incandescent or otherwise) baffling, since localized lamplight is so much warmer and human.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 12, 2007 01:40 PM | Send