Libertarian Paternalism

Guido steps away from his gossip monger routine for a moment to make a substantial point. The Tories really aren't liberals, in the sense of those interested in liberty, whatever the current rhetoric. Rather, just a different group of people telling you of the different things you must do.

Libertarian paternalism, government "nudging", is increasingly beginning to seem like a modernised version of old fashioned authoritarian conservativism.

Quite. However popular the book "Nudge" is, libertarian paternalism is still something of an oxymoron. Sure, nudging people towards doing good things sounds wonderful, but it still requires that someone, somewhere, decide what "good things" are for other people.  Which rather misses the essence of libertarianism: that, absent protecting the rights of others to do as they wish, we cannot decide for other people what is a good thing for them. Only the individual can decide that for themselves.

I would probably (as is my wont) go further than Guido. This love in for the book, indeed the whole libertarian paternalism thing, isn't just in danger of morphing into good old fashioned authoritarian conservatism. It's actually a cover for it, which is why those who tend to such authoritarianism love the idea so much.

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