“Nanny State” is an amusingly cantankerous protest by Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi against increasing health and safety regulations and so-called sin taxes. Unfortunately, the book suffers from a problem that often befalls writers so sure they’re right they fail to question their assumptions — it doesn’t fully explore the complex issues driving such rules and policies. As such, it is best appreciated by those already inclined to agree with it.
Harsanyi’s viewpoint can best be described as libertarian: As adults with free will (if not always common sense), we have the right to make bad decisions about our eating, smoking and drinking habits; purchase of consumer products; and use of seat belts and air bags without being “nannied” to death by overly protective laws. Just so we’re not harming anyone else.
He sees what’s happening with these regulations, especially mandatory seat-belt laws, as a shift in “concern about whether laws kept us free to whether they kept us safe.” (Curiously, the so-called nanny state hasn’t made much progress in limiting guns, which everyone agrees are dangerous, but that’s another story.)
His book’s subtitle sums up his viewpoint: “How Food Fascists, Teetotaling De-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and Other Boneheaded Bureaucrats Are Turning America into a Nation of Children.”
Fair enough, although Harsanyi might wish to have backed his criticism of the “safety fetishists” who warn against dangerous toys, in light of all the recent recalls of toys made in China. And while Harsanyi has a legitimate point in criticizing school officials who ban dodgeball, touch football and tag for encouraging bullying (“there is no way to legislate the kid out of kids,” he says), the recent Finland school shooting — and of course Columbine — reminds us there is a serious reason for trying to make sure students don’t feel bullied.
But there are good points raised in this book. Some are humorous, as when pointing out how the Florida Tomato Committee seeks to protect us from “ugly tomatoes” despite some consumers preferring them for their taste.
Some are quite serious, as when he questions the way the zero-tolerance anti-drunken driving movement, with the support of overzealous law enforcement, is harassing responsible social drinkers. “The point is to muddle the distinction between ‘drunk driving’ and ‘drinking any amount of alcohol and driving,’ ” he observes, provocatively. Criticizing this pressure group is like walking into a minefield — Harsanyi does it gingerly.
And despite the weakness of his arguments opposing school anti-bullying efforts, he does point out the ludicrous ways that school officials have interpreted “zero tolerance” (a term that frightens Harsanyi as a believer in common sense) of weapons in schools.
In North Carolina, for instance, a bored 10-year-old was suspended for pointing his thumb and forefinger at the ceiling like an imaginary weapon.
But Harsanyi’s arguments start to feel awfully thin and insubstantial when delving into restrictions on smoking and “bad” food — those with high fat and sugar content, primarily, especially those aimed at kids in school.
First, the tobacco industry is a special problem that he doesn’t really address. As an influential article in a journalism magazine — arguing against allowing tobacco ads — once pointed out, tobacco is addictive when used as intended and that addiction leads to fatal illnesses. Further, the tobacco industry has a history of trying to cover up the truth while luring new smokers. It’s hardly “nannyism” to seek restrictions on its use.
But what’s really missing in Harsanyi’s attack on such restrictions is an investigation into their connection to the nation’s health-care crisis. Does Harsanyi believe all Americans have the right not to die because they can’t afford health care? If so, he needs to explore what those who do pay for it — employers and the government, primarily — have the right to expect from us in exchange?
As society is evolving, and the expense of health insurance increasing, they are increasingly pushing us to give up the lifestyle — smoking, fatty foods, use of pollution-emitting products — likely to lead to expensive illnesses.
Is this evidence of a nanny state? A new form of survival of the fittest?
Or a problem-solving democracy at work? There’s an important, useful book waiting for whoever wants to tackle all this. Unfortunately, while entertaining and good for sparking an argument or two, “Nanny State” isn’t it.
Steven Rosen is a freelance writer in Cincinnati.
NONFICTION
Nanny State, by David Harsanyi, $24.95
