CNN talk show host Piers
Morgan, who
sees eye to eye with Michael Bloomberg on guns, also
shares the busybody billionaire’s distaste for
big sodas:
He wants New Yorkers to be fitter and healthier. What is wrong
with that?… ;
I think people need the nanny state occasionally, particularly
on issues like smoking, drinking, guzzling sodas that are too big
for them, you know, eating 16 Big Macs a day, whatever it may be,
the reality is we all need a bit of nannying about that. That’s why
so many people are on diets. That’s a form of nanny state.
Really? It seems to me the crucial difference between dieting
and government-imposed food restrictions is that the latter
involves coercion. When you choose to cut back on your caloric
intake, that is self-control, as opposed to state control, a rather
important distinction (and not just for libertarians). Something
like a fat camp woud be a closer comparison to the nanny state,
except that people voluntarily decide to enroll in such programs.
If you are a New Yorker who is suddenly
prevented from ordering your favorite coffee drink by mayoral
decree, you have made no such choice.
Original post:
Piers Morgan Likens the Nanny State to Dieting
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