• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

James M. Redwine

  • Books
  • Columns
  • Events
  • About

open windows

Windows of Opportunity

May 1, 2020 by Jim Leave a Comment

For about 200,000 years Homo sapiens did without air conditioning. Other than opening or closing the animal hide, reed or cloth flap covering their cave or hut openings our ancestors did not worry about the atmosphere, whether inside or out. Setting beside a fire pit or chimney, people were happy to simply huddle together when it was cold, probably in groups of ten or less. When it came to keeping cool we just opened windows. This provided untold benefits that humanity appears to have now lost sight of.

Fresh air, reduced utility costs and portals for tossing out dirty dishwater disappeared. We began to regurgitate air previously breathed by others and which sometimes contains mold spores and other unhealthy elements. Remember Legionnaires Disease that was traced to air conditioning units for large buildings such as hotels and convention centers and which was and still is particularly deadly for people fifty years of age, people with weak immune systems, those with lung problems and smokers. Sound familiar?

When combating COVID-19, fresh air and warmer weather make sense to me. And while I chose not to pursue a graduate degree in psychology, I can confidently assert that better mental health results from fresh air rather than social isolationism made even more isolated by closed windows. We used to be able to rent a hotel room and eat at restaurants while enjoying the ambiance of open windows. Then pencil pushers began to control every aspect of our days and nights by requiring windows that could not be raised. This may be good for corporate earnings but it is anathema for human health, physical and mental.

If governors and state legislators want to do some real good at no cost to taxpayers they can require that all windows be openable. They can still have locking devices available. Under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution these issues are the province of the states.

Should we be concerned that as people watch the economy continue to slide toward 1929 levels they might be tempted to jump out, a couple of bars on the outside of windows should discourage such impulses while still allowing for fresh air.

I know that simply opening windows suffers from the anti-governmental approach. It is inexpensive. It has proven effective for a couple of hundred thousand years. And it puts control in the hands of the public, not bureaucrats. In spite of these political drawbacks I still recommend it.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: COVID-19, Gavel Gamut Tagged With: COVID-19, fresh air, Homo sapiens, James M. Redwine, Jim Redwine, Legionnaires Disease, open windows, social isolation, Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, unlocked windows, windows of opportunity

© 2020 James M. Redwine

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.