Libertarian Paternalism

Over at "City Journal" there is a review of Choosing Wisely - Can “libertarian paternalism” make the world a better place? by Laura Vanderkam. The concept is that people smarter than the average bear.....will nudge and guide the average bear....

(If we have)choice architects consciously try to do this, Thaler and Sunstein argue, we will wind up with better public and private policies.

The list the authors provide is an impressive list of stupid things that people do. Not signing up to company 401K's being one example. The implication here is that all we need is for "choice architects" to nudge us in the right direction.

The problem I have with this is not that it might work, but that it meets all the criteria of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

The use of seat belts was introduced as a safety measure that would be voluntary. It has since become mandatory with some cities running full scale enforcement efforts.

We started of with the government telling us that smoking was bad for us, on every pack.... and now we have states in which you can not smoke in a public place..

Neither of the above are bad in themselves. People should wear their seat belts and smoking is bad for you. But the clear path in front of all of us is that at some point the government will tell you to lose weight or be put in a mandatory program. As medical resources become scarce, why not tell those with an unhealthy life style they are on their own?

On the more draconian front those now being fined and imprisoned in Europe are suffering from laws that didn't just pop up. Someone made the argument that not offending some person or group was more important than freedom of speech, and what started as being societal pressure for politically correct speech has now become codified law.

That this results in a stagnant society seems to not have entered into the heads of the masters. Perhaps they need to study the Islamic culture, with its strict sanctions against religious insult, and note how it went into the tank about 1200 years ago and still hasn't emerged.

As for me, put me down for letting people do what they want. If their actions lead to their early demise then I call that gene pool improvement. If they insult someone then let the "someone" insult them back. Who knows. Among all the shouting at each other both sides might learn something.