tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079510670221899835.post9134000425940262696..comments2008-04-04T11:57:53.671-04:00Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07219727425604646356noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079510670221899835.post-25616396703832281622008-04-04T11:57:00.000-04:002008-04-04T11:57:00.000-04:00Burgess, let me say that I'm delighted you're commenting on this blog, and your latest comment is one of the reasons.Stellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07219727425604646356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079510670221899835.post-72742354463145074882008-04-04T11:55:00.000-04:002008-04-04T11:55:00.000-04:00<I>... the paternalistic implication ...</I><BR/><BR/>I think the idea of paternalism is a clue to the problem of identifying the nature of the particular form of statism ruling our lives, both medically and otherwise. <BR/><BR/>This is not jack-boot statism that demands that we sacrifice our lives for the State or the Race or the Class. Instead, we live under "guidance" that regulates our lives in the name of benefitting <I>us</I>.<BR/><BR/>I see this as <B>Parentalism</B>, which is the belief (-ism) that the state functions as the Good Parent of society. Like any good parent, this state sets rules to keep the family functional as a whole and to protect the immature and the decrepit. Parentalism is paternalism and maternalism combined, emphasizing their common denominator: forceful, final decision-making for the benefit of family members.<BR/><BR/>Superficially Parentalism is not totalitarianism. Our state Parent allows us freedoms, just as any good parent does. Children can decorate their own bedrooms (within certain guidelines, of course); make some esthetic choices with their own things; and choose electives at school. But the Parent state manages everything overall--for every family member's benefit, of course.<BR/><BR/>Parentalism captures the essential, distinguishing characteristics of our particular form of statism: ultimately forceful guidance combined with vacuoles of freedom, all for the supposed benefit of individual "family" members.Burgess Laughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com