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'Coercive Paternalism' Is Bad Parenting

Laws designed to force public to choose healthy options is 'Orwellian'

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 9, 2008 9:57 AM CDT

(Newser) – Under the banner of what’s good for you, an insidious new trend is growing. “Coercive paternalism,” Steve Chapman writes in Reason, is the wrong-minded older sibling of the much-in-vogue “libertarian paternalism” responsible for dietary information in chain restaurants. “Libertarian paternalists … limit themselves to promoting informed choices,” Chapman writes. “Coercive paternalists have a simpler approach: telling us what to do.”

Chapman writes of the “perverse consequences” of a San Francisco ban on selling cigarettes in pharmacies. “The most obvious is to deprive one type of retail establishment of revenue and divert the dollars to other businesses. Marginal neighborhoods will become less attractive sites for pharmacies but more appealing to liquor stores, which is a novel approach to urban renewal.”

Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles' director of public health, points to a poster after announcing a proposal to implement mandatory menu labeling for fast food and chain restaurants.
Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles' director of public health, points to a poster after announcing a proposal to implement mandatory menu labeling for fast food and chain restaurants.   (AP Photo)
Signs for fast foot restaurants in LA.
Signs for fast foot restaurants in LA.   (AP Photo)
Calories of each food item appear on a McDonalds drive-thru menu in New York.
Calories of each food item appear on a McDonalds drive-thru menu in New York.   (AP Photo)
A Filipino cigarette vendor sits on a stroller as he watches over his baby.
A Filipino cigarette vendor sits on a stroller as he watches over his baby.   (AP Photo)
Officials in San Francisco and Los Angeles intend to ensure that individuals are free to do what they want, Steve Chapman writes in Reason, if what they want is good for them.
"Officials in San Francisco and Los Angeles intend to ensure that individuals are free to do what they want," Steve Chapman writes in Reason, "if what they want is good for them."   (AP Photo)
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