Serious question: What does the phrase "nanny state" imply ?

[steve2470]

I haven't posted in here for weeks, so hello again. There was someone in the Lounge the other night who actually used that phrase and no one challenged him on it. Is that a conservative or libertarian-type phrase ? Please educate me. Thank you for your time.

[cestpaspossible]

1. It is a form of RW framing

'nanny-state' implies that anyone who needs help from the government is a perpetually recalcitrant child who won't do what's good for himself. Therefore a 'strict father' needs to step in and lay down the law.

[POAS]

4. Perhaps it's time to change,

with right wingers pushing the government to regulate everything from tits at halftime to private bedroom behavior and private decisions between adults and their doctors don't these seem more nannyish than the regulations emanating from the left?

[eallen]

8. Absolutely! Gonzales's pursuit of porn is the nanny state in action.

Speaking as someone who comes more from the libertarian side of the field, the difference between "liberal" and "conservative" regulation doesn't seem all that great. Except more of it is coming from the conservative side.

:hippie:

[cestpaspossible]

9. Yep. Big-government, borrow-and-spend Republicans.

[slackmaster]

2. It's a libertarian vs. communitarian concept

In a communitarian philosophy, the state bears primary responsibility for providing for the needs of individuals and for protecting them from harm.

In general use the term "nanny state" is a dysphemism for what the speaker feels is excessive infringement on individual liberty, privacy, property rights, etc. in a perhaps well-meaning but misguided effort to improve the quality of life.

[leveymg]

3. You're very, very naughty for asking

It's a Tory Britishism meant to imply that we should all pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and march straight when the whistle blows.

Spit spot!

[Democrat 4 Ever]

5. Well, it depends. If you are a liberal than nanny state is the

term you use to let everyone know that the family in question has a mother who is a selfish, greedy bitch who throws her children at a nanny so she can go burn her bra, steal a job from a god-fearing repug white male and break the glass ceilings that don't exist. On the other hand, if it is a repug mommy then it is perfectly okay to be in a nanny state to raise the kids while Mommy Dearest shops, goes to church, hang out at the country club for drinking lunches and have affairs with the yardman. Just depends on who we are talking about.

Guess you can tell I have had one repug woman too many question my commitment to my kids when I worked when they were little. One of them was the boss' wife, who had a full time nanny, shopped six days a week, asked employees to go and pick up the kids from school and take them to doctor appointments and babysit when she decides to drop the little darlings off at the office on the nanny's day off.

[formerrepuke]

6. "Government trying to legislate how people should live"....

such as enacting smoking bans.. a liberal nanny state might try to protect large numbers of people from certain behaviors; a conservative nanny state would try legislate (restrict) certain behaviors. That's my interpretation anyway...

[eallen]

7. As someone with libertarian sentiments, I use that phrase frequently.

Slackmaster pretty much nailed the issue. The "nannystaters" want mandatory helmets for motorcyclists, safety restrictions on base jumping, licensing for recreational boaters, tight limits on skateboarding, and other rules and regulations that will save people from themselves. Those of us who are more libertarian in our outlook want people free, even to do things that endanger themselves.

I fall pretty much on the libertarian end of this scale. In my view, the argument for regulation becomes stronger as an activity presents more risk to innocent bystanders. That said, I still want such regulation to be tailored for the purpose of protecting bystanders, and kept as minimal as necessary.

BTW, my experience is that people who ski, sail, thrash, hike, or engage in other potentially risky activities tend to fall on the libertarian side of this political divide.