Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and Other Boneheaded Bureaucrats Are Turning America In

by David Harsanyi

Book Overview

When did we lose our right to be lazy, unhealthy, and politically incorrect? Move over Big Brother! An insidious new group has inserted itself into American politics. They are the nannies-not the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767924320
• ISBN13: 9780767924320
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 291 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Leave Us Be!

Live free or die. That's just about all you need to say about this subject.If one had any reservation about the effects this new paternalism has had on the American people they would be wise to consult David Harsanyi's Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and other Boneheaded Bureaucrats are Turning America into a Nation of Children. It does not tell the entire story but it certainly shares as many lowlights that can be comfortably digested in a six hour period. The specifics of our "low-grade, feel-good tyranny" never fail to horrify. Harsanyi effectively depicts the invasive nature of this new dispensation along with how misguided and arbitrary the actions of the nanny state have been. As is always the case, if you want to improve society the worst way to do so is to get the government involved. Regulators and enforcement officers often produce false positives, false negatives, and commit atrocious errors of judgment. This is expected as such failings are intrinsic to every state initiative. Our bureaucracies have always excelled at incompetence ...and they always will. Harsany asserts that "there is no way to legislate the kid out of kids" but the assumption is disputable. The jackboot of the state can deaden a child's spirit and stultify his imagination which is something nanny staters have been highly effective at doing. Some Ohio municipalities even require the acquisition of a Halloween license before one can go out and trick-or-treat. We find too that dodgeball is going the way of the highball. What we once termed rough and tumble play now has a decidedly anti-social connotations. Joyous anarchic enthusiasm is often characterized by the uncharitable words of bullying, victimization, and aggression. That sports are a prosocial means by which humans channel aggressive instincts is something lost on contemporary educators. Nanny staters are undoubtedly motivated by a need to display moral superiority, but personally I think the main propellant behind this totalitarian nonsense is the statist's internal desire to control others. Certainly, promoting the health of the populace is pretty far down on their list of priorities. What really titillates them is the thought of dominating their con-specifics. Perhaps some of them are sincere about wanting to sink carbon dioxide, but their drastic measures would never benefit the atmosphere because the gas they diminish would be bountifully replaced by exhalations of self-righteousness and political correctness. Their dictatorial efforts will not halt until we are "all safe" and leading lives unworthy of living.

Do Americans really need a Nanny?

This was a great book. All about how "big government," (Republican and Democrat) tries to stop us from making poor decisions, so dumb Americans don't hurt themselves, physically or morally, or possibly in both ways in some cases! Harsanyi is an entertaining and funny writer who has delved head first into the scary trend in this country of Nannyism. Seatbelt laws in all but one state are the best example of Nannyism run amuck, but it is happening every day. In fact, it is on the news every single day--those kids not allowed to hug (Npvember 7-8, 2007) who have been issued punishment by their school districts in Illinois and Alabama (one of the biggest scariest Nanny states around--where I live!). Come on, that is outrageous! Some school board member in Autauga County actually got on the air on the liocal news and said (and I am paraphrasing here)that hugging and kissing (i.e. public display of affection) can lead to other things, and that is not good. What freaks!--there was no sexual misconduct! What is wrong with this world? The girl was consoling a friend who had recently lost a parent. But this is exactly what Nanny State is all about--he covers it all and in a very organized and super intelligent manner. Tha author covers so many facets of life that are affected by constant Nannyism--our sex lives, what is on television, how we care for pets, what we eat, how our children play, alcohol, smoking, etc. The frivolity and tiome wasting of our legislators and the control freaks that are trying to protect families and chidlren are very upsetting. It has made me want to be more involved in what goes on in my state and this country regarding these issue. Especially because these tyrannists are counting on our complacency. I would highly recommend this book to all Americans who love freedom!

What a frustrating book!

I think I discovered that there was a latent Libertarian living inside me after reading this book. Helmet laws, seat-belt laws, smoking laws have always bugged the heck out of me, and this book helped me explore why. This is one of those books that you wish every homeowner's association, city council, statehouse and federal house would read, as it systematically chronicles the good-intentioned road to hell that the anal-retentive control-freaks (he calls them nannies) daily pave. The material is endless, the stories are fascinating, but be warned that the feeling of frustrated anger can be about overwhelming at times as you watch a suburban mom spend time in jail for failing to "click it", or listen to how someone has lost the right to disable a (later proven) harmful airbag in his own car. The nannies have run wild, and the cost has been our liberty, and it is incredibly rewarding to hear someone so eloquently pointing out the process. Hopefully it's the beginning of taking back our country from those who would take away our dodgeball, our tag, and our rights to be as dumb as we want to be as long as it doesn't infringe on someone else. Again, great reading, well-reasoned analysis, and courage to take on and defend the unpopular in the defense of liberty. Actual doing the job the ACLU claims to do and rarely does.

Great Book on Libertarianism

I first saw this book when Charley Reese had shown it in his article. When I saw it at the book store, I picked it up just to skim. Since then, this book has been a page turner I couldn't put down. The Libertarian ideas that are present can be used not only for the Libertarian but also for anyone that has a problem with big government. It goes to show how ridiculous some of the laws that have been instated have been. From laws requiring people to walk outside to smoke even in their own homes to taxes on fast-food, the book presents some great problems with big government.

Freedom isn't free

Great book on creeping nannyism in the U.S. The good thing about this book is that it doesn't present the case as being only about the "Left" trying to take our freedoms away (it includes an entire chapter on social conservatives). The book is about all kinds of "busybodies", who have a pet issue that they convince the local government to enforce. It usually is something they don't like and consider a "danger" (smoking, fast food, trans fats, alcohol, etc.). Examples are of course smoking bans, "zero tolerance" alcohol policies, fun-free playgrounds (where any type of childhood exuberance is not tolerated), skateboarding bans, New York banning transfats, the Christian Right trying to ban pornography, etc. Always, there is what the author calls a "nanny", who of course thinks they know better than us, what is good for us and society, and who then use police power to enforce this morality. The nanny is basically a puritanical authoritarian who can't tolerate anyone living differently than they do. I can only say that this book rings very true. Having moved back to the U.S. from Germany, I noticed that even compared to Germany, there are a LOT of laws in the U.S. In Germany, there were also a lot of laws, but people were also much less uptight than Americans about certain things. For instance, it is legal in Germany for people as young as 17 or 16 to drink alcohol. And yet, there are not massive societal problems due to this. If you read and listen to the neo-temperance movement in the U.S., you would think that the world would end if we went back to the 18 drinking age. Ditto many other things. In Germany, I noticed that older people might nag kids who skateboard around their neighborhood, but there are not the all-encompassing neighborhood bans on skateboarding, etc. that we have here. And why do we need them ? We then wonder why American kids turn to drugs, because they are so bored and so many things that might be fun are banned where they live. I personally think this is one reason American teens turn to drugs. The Christian Right of course also wants to ban a lot of things, and they are in league with the Left on much of this ("zero tolerance"). I read through Sen. Brownback's recent book and it is scary how many things he wants to ban. And I think Brownback is typical for most "social conservatives" (under his and their logic, one could ban almost anything using the logic that it is "dangerous to the social fabric", and "harms the family". Exactly how family structures are harmed by porn, I fail to see, particularly considering that Utah is the U.S. state that downloads the most porn (and also has by far the strongest family structures in the U.S.). Speakig of Utah, it is in some ways a great state. I found the state extremely clean and well organized. People are uber-friendly. But to me, it is one example of where we might be headed. Try ordering a beer in Utah. It is easier to get into some countries, than it is to order a beer