Observing social phenomena, sometimes seemingly innocuous ones, can help support or invalidate social theories. In Chris Frieswick’s “A Curious Tale of a Home Generator,” he writes:Your generator is super loud, but your neighbors don’t have to hate you“, The Wall Street JournalJuly 18, 2024.
Home generators are useful during a power outage and are close to essential if you work from home. Strictly speaking, no product is literally a “necessity” since there is always the possibility of a substitute. If you go to a coffee shop or restaurant that has electricity and an outlet, you can take your laptop and go to work. But for many people, nothing beats a home generator.
In fact, many American households own one, either portable or standby. Those who don’t have clearly made other choices, for a variety of reasons, including personal preference, price, and income. Not many American families would feel comfortable sacrificing other consumer goods, services, or activities to purchase one, even if it meant an additional cost of at least $1,000 to connect it to their home’s electrical system. Most of the rest of the world does not have these opportunities, but it’s not because of capitalist exploitation.
In wealthy countries and densely populated places, home generators can be difficult to use — most landlords probably won’t allow you to put one on an apartment balcony — but generators can still be useful in isolated areas or neighborhoods with lots of single-family and duplex homes.
One problem is, The Wall Street Journal The gist of the story is that the noise of the generator may be a nuisance to neighbors. Perhaps jealousy is the cause of intolerance from those stuck in dark houses with no heat (or air conditioning) and no power for the freezer, dishwasher, etc. But in a free society, or any society that is at all free, the owner of the generator would consider himself on his property, and the neighbors would usually understand that. The noise is Possibly due to external factors If the power outages are frequent or long-lasting, they’re not unexpected. They can be a real nuisance if you’re mowing the lawn at night, but otherwise they’re not unexpected. Plus, unless you have really close neighbors or live in a tent, the constant noise is tolerable for generator owners.
We see that private property serves the function of minimizing conflict and facilitating social life. In my suburban Maine neighborhood, I’m surprised when neighbors complain about the noise of generators during a power outage. In fact, I’d never heard of this possibility until I read this book. The Wall Street Journal Story.
If neighbors are dissatisfied, the generator owner can compensate them, even if indirectly. The journalist writes:
Finally, bribe! During the power outage, offer to let your neighbors refrigerate frozen steaks or ice cream. Put a power strip on your deck so everyone can charge their devices. Share your Wi-Fi password. If the power outage is long-lasting, hand out ice. Host a movie night. The longer the power outage, the more valuable these kinds of kindnesses become. If the power outage continues for a long time, your neighbors may enjoy the sound of your generator when they find out they can sign in to your Wi-Fi to download episodes of Frasier.
What makes these suggestions interesting is that they represent normal behavior in a commercially oriented and free (or rather less free) society, where everyone is accustomed to free exchange and voluntary cooperation. As long as they do not violate contracts or major conventions, a “bribe” functions just like a price in a normal exchange. (See Anthony de Jasay’s Against politics(Especially Chapter 9.) Similarly, any price in a fraud-free exchange can be considered an honest bribery. Bribery is more civilized and efficient (in the economic sense) than threats of imprisonment or fines, or even kicking.
