Quality of life

Re “Make standard time last year-round” and “Advantages abound with changing the clocks” (March 13): Despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary, some members of Congress, supported by special interests, insist the nation would be better off with year-round daylight saving time as the norm. Really? How often have we heard this same drumbeat from these wise legislators?

It is not just changing the clocks forward or backward that has caused consternation. Congress has a habit of enacting legislation about issues it knows little or nothing about or relying on the “opinions” of so-called “experts” in the field to inform their decision-making.

Climate science, environmental science, infectious disease, human reproduction, economics and gun violence are a few notable instances where reason and peer-reviewed factual evidence is swept aside in the name of some political agenda.

Daylight saving time stinks. The abrupt time change messes with our circadian rhythm, throwing another monkey wrench into the machinery of modern life already plagued by multiple maladies, all leading to declining life quality and expectancy.

Opposing views presented by The Virginian-Pilot presented the pros and cons of permanent Eastern Standard Time or daylight saving time, some of which tended to favor economic benefits and others that favored mental and physical health benefits. In the final analysis, what should matter most is what Count Rugen said in “The Princess Bride”: “Get some rest. If you haven’t got your health, then you haven’t got anything.”

Why would Congress force an overweight, overmedicated, overly leveraged, indebted, sleep-deprived nation to endure another assault on our pursuit of happiness?

— John Mannarino, Virginia Beach