[extropy-chat] Libertarian paternalism

[Samantha Atkins]

On Jul 2, 2006, at 7:38 PM, Damien Sullivan wrote:

> http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/fac/richard.thaler/research/LIbpatLaw.pdf
>
> Cass Sunsteina and Richard Thaler defend what they call libertarian
> paternalism, on grounds of bounded rationality.

Ha!   If they put those two words together in one phrase one may be  
quite sure that their rationality is [very] bounded indeed.  Such  
steering of choice amounts to a likely imposition of force  
incompatible with libertarianism.  It also to some degree derails  
feedback from reality on the micro level of individual choices.   It  
would require superior relatively all wise "parents" capable of  
mapping decisions and consequences better than local actors.   We  
have seen just how well such centralized "benevolence" works in  
practice.   For humans to be acting as the "parents" also has well  
known temptations and tendencies to major corruption and eventual  
oppression.

- samantha