The Rise of Parentalism: Afraid to be Free

Posted on March 4th, 2009

There has been an unprecedented deluge of bills filed and passed in the Arkansas legislature this session that I think point to the greatest emerging threat to liberty in America today.

It is not just the desire among many in government to interfere in nearly every aspect of our lives that concerns me. Perhaps more frightening is the lack of concern on the part of many Americans that this is happening. A growing portion of the public seems to want to have their behavior prescribed to them, much like the paradoxical discovery that children actually want and find comfort in parental rules.

While you might think that this tendency comes primarily from progressives/leftists, the parentalist-paternalist trend isn’t at all isolated there. Conservatives are equally guilty of perpetuating this troublesome movement, particularly the Christian right. Both groups can be seen promoting laws and regulations that value the “collective good” over personal choice, precaution over risk, and the community over the individual.

This convergence of left and right to limit individual freedoms and the establishment of paternalistic reforms have historically been extremely detrimental to the vison of America put in place by our founding fathers. The results of this convergence is probably best demonstrated by the failure of prohibition and other social reform experiments occuring between 1890 and 1920, growing into the monsterous nanny state that we have today.

I see a disturbing trend that may be indicating a repeat and amplification of those past mistakes. While Christian conservatives may have good intentions, we need to re-evaluate our willingness to agree to social contracts that we think will “make society better.”

Like “government” itself, social contracts should be viewed as a necessary evil. In fact, there is no basis for a U.S. Constitution without relying on social contract theory. Still, we need to heed and understand the warnings of Murray Rothbard about social contracts and limit their use to the carefully prescribed limits outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

In my view, there should be no perpetual social contract except that of the U.S. Constitution. I agree with Rothbard that social contracts cannot be valid if the contract is not renewed by each generation, therefore even if a law or regulation is created by a valid social contract it should periodically and automatically sunset.

When we prepare our children for adulthood, we prepare them to bear the full costs and receive the full benefits of their own actions. Until they do so, they are never really “free” of parental control.

When individuals bear the full costs and receive the full benefits of their own actions, the justification for government involvement is much weaker. Unless and until an individual does so, they can never be free. I hope Americans have not lost their desire to be truly free.

I guess the warp and woof of what I am saying is, “Grow Up America!”

Tags: freedom
Filed under Uncategorized |

One Response to “The Rise of Parentalism: Afraid to be Free”

1. Reade Ken Says:
   March 5th, 2009 at 8:21 am

   Your absolutely right! Let’s start with undoing the republican nanny state for the rich. First up undo the bankruptcy law that makes the federal government the credit card companies personal collection agency.