Invented by the late Bernard Levin and arguably introduced to New Zealand by Lindsay Perigo, Nanny State the term and Nanny State the embodiment of "soft fascism" are both flourishing. "Nanny State: Beat the Bitch Back" said Lindsay Perigo recently in a piece on Muriel Newman's site that was sent to all the papers as an Op Ed. In an ever-so spooky coincidence, the Sunday Star Slime -- the tabloid that only looks like a broadsheet-- decides to publish instead their own wussy apologia for Nanny: 'It's Time to Scrap the Term Nanny State,' they simper [hat tip Zen Tiger].
Frankly, my dears, I do give a damn: At a time when Nanny State has Gone Berserk, it's time to bury her, not to sing her praises.
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And the 'Newspeak' award of the week goes to...
"In 20 years, when the obesity epidemic is cramming the hospital wards with its victims, nobody will dare call these early attempts to deal with it frivolous or silly."
So is this an admission of potential failure, or what?
"In fact, smoking and dietary habits are formed at a young age, long before the age of reason. The average smoker starts at 14<<1/2. Nobody will claim that an adolescent of that age is making a rational choice. Adults very rarely take up smoking. They can see, as adolescents cannot, that smoking is slow suicide and madness. The government is justified in trying to save adolescents from themselves and from the immoral activities of the tobacco companies. People scoff that this is "social engineering".
Who the hell wrote this? Margaret Wilson, herself?
"Much of what governments do is social engineering. Laws aim specifically to alter behaviour and punish those who don't conform. Education is a form of compulsory social engineering."
Well, they got that bit right. Why anyone buys the Sunday papers is beyond me.
Crap. Worse, pro-state crap.
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