Re: What Govt Act Bugs You Most?
Robin Hanson (hanson@econ.berkeley.edu)
Tue, 18 Nov 1997 11:02:47 -0800
I had asked:
> You probably wouldn't be libertarians if you weren't bugged by some things
> that governments do. So I'd like to ask: what thing that governments do
> bugs you the *most*?
Kevin responded: "Taxpayer funded propoganda"
Seth responded: "Censorship and suppression of dissent"
Daniel responded: "telling us what we can and can't put in our bodies
`for our own good'."
Dan's answer is what I imagined the modal response would be. Given the
choice between
government behavior mandates and government advice, I'll choose
advice/propoganda.
I guess censorship is even more upsetting than mandates, but we don't see so
much of it
here in the U.S.
These responses are nice for me in that they confirm the importance of my
research focus -
government paternalism. That's where government doesn't seem to trust you to
make your
own choices, even when the consequences mainly fall on you.
My main contribution so far in this area is a model of product/activity
bans. I'll start
a new thread on this topic in a few minutes.
--
Robin Hanson
hanson@econ.berkeley.edu http://hanson.berkeley.edu/
RWJF Health Policy Scholar, Sch. of Public Health 510-643-1884
140 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 FAX: 510-643-8614