For many people the idea of a state that cares for every aspect of its citizens’ well-being is a highly desirable even utopian ideal. The rise of the “nanny state” in many Western countries was heralded as a triumph of political evolution.
For me, this is a highly dangerous prospect.
There are several reasons that lead me to this conclusion.
Firstly, human beings are, on principle, fallible and corruptible, who will take any opportunity to abuse power when it is placed in their hands. A state which intervenes in the affairs of its citizens to serve their every need inevitably will exercise enormous power over such citizens. This power if abused — and it will be — can lead to great injustice and oppression of the very people the state is supposed to take care of.
Secondly, citizens of such a nanny state may have their own sense of personal responsibility atrophy.
They will rely on the state to take care of their fellow citizens and will no longer feel personally obligated to care for other members of their society. Societies atomize and fragment, social groups such as tribes, unions, neighborhoods and so forth diminish in importance and strength, thereby rendering the citizens helpless before the all-powerful state and its organizations.
Western countries’ citizens are already facing the negative consequences of this type of state as they are increasingly being rendered incapable of standing up to their governments.
They find themselves unable to influence the course of their nations and realize that their governments are more and more serving the interests of the rich and powerful minority in those countries.
The overemphasis on elections and the so-called democratic process is no protection from the modern nation state. The glorification of individualism is a serious undermining of a society’s ability to protect itself from the depredation of the nation state.
Societies must emphasize personal responsibility and must protect systems of collective care such as extended families and unions. They must do this as a counter to the increasing power and intrusiveness of the nanny state.
Last week, in the Oct. 8 issue of the International Herald Tribune, Thomas Friedman wrote an article entitled “Fight the war on terror at the pump”.
The gist of Friedman’s article is that the high oil prices, and the resulting prosperity it brings to countries of the Middle East especially the oil-producing ones, will stop reform in these countries and lead to repression.
Friedman urges Americans to cut down their consumption of oil in order to bring down oil prices that he hopes will then reduce the income of oil producing countries in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia.
The concept of poverty and war being tools with which the US will liberate the Arab world is an old Friedman idea and one he often repeats.
It is this cockeyed kind of thinking that led the US into its quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan and will lead it into further catastrophes in the future.
I could of course go into a long and elaborate critique of Friedman’s article pointing out the numerous fallacies and errors that it contains.
I will, however, do none of that. Instead I will cheerfully stick my tongue out to Friedman and say, “Eat your heart out.”
The Spanish have a wonderful saying: “The best revenge is living well!”
