'Give it a rest, Karl': Jacobin's socialist take on air conditioning might indeed prove that 'capitalism has gone too far'

As Twitchy told you, earlier this week, Atlantic writer Taylor Lorenz helpfully summed up for the rest of us why air conditioning is so awful:

Air-conditioning is unhealthy, bad, miserable, and sexist. I can’t explain how many times I’ve gotten sick over the summer b/c of overzealous AC in offices. #BanAC https://t.co/QPME4lMTVS

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 7, 2019

But as far-left socialist outlet Jacobin points out, the discussion prompted by Lorenz’s tweet still didn’t get to the heart of the matter:

Millions of you are suffering in overly air-conditioned workplaces right now. This isn't about remembering to bring an extra sweater to work — it's class war. Workers should be in control of office temperature, not bosses. https://t.co/o2QzzETdeq

— Jacobin (@jacobinmag) July 9, 2019

Aaron Freedman’s piece concludes:

Workers who freeze in their offices should not discount temperature as a cause around which to organize. Office temperature requirements can and should be part of contract negotiations. AC democracy — whether through an elected thermostat representative, direct voting on office temperature, or librarian-style contingencies for extreme temperatures — should be the rule, not the exception, of the American workplace.

AC democracy is a feminist demand as well. At a previous job, for example, most of my coworkers were women, but men dominated senior management (some research has shown that women prefer slightly higher temperatures than men). The summer thermostat was, accordingly, set unduly low, with winter layers the norm, and one coworker even resorting to a clandestine space heater under her desk. Lacking a union, my colleagues had no official recourse for changing the conditions.

And it’s not just about the office: our planet depends on the reasonable allocation of energy-demanding air-conditioning. Workplace democracy is a first step toward ensuring we all have a voice in balancing our individual concerns for comfort with our collective desire to maintain human civilization.

So to media Twitter, I offer this humble plea: before we go after our fellow worker as the enemy in our quest for summer comfort, let’s take the fight to where it really belongs: the boss.