James Delingpole talks with Chris Snowdon, head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, on this week’s episode of Delingpole. The two discuss the ever-encroaching Nanny State. James is upset – really upset. His favorite childhood drink – some bright orange fizzy stuff called Lucozade, plus lots of other fizzy drinks – have been ruined forever by the U.K. government’s clampdown on sugar, causing craven, idiot, PC manufacturers to change the ingredients and ruin the taste.
Ignoring the historical lessons of Prohibition, the Nanny Staters are on the march and have a whole new range of excuses for why their brand of “benign” paternalism is good for us all: alcohol, e-cigarettes, sugar, and fat are all in their sights. “But why shouldn’t we ban everything that’s bad for us?” James wants to know. He doesn’t mean it, obviously; he’s just playing devil’s advocate so that Chris can give him the lowdown on The Bansturbators – all those Nanny State types who think Big Government knows what’s best for us.
With learned reference to JS Mill and Hayek, plus some more recent examples, Chris explains how well-meaning paternalism is just destructive, ignorant, freedom-hating authoritarianism with a smug, smiling face.
James also learns about John Snow: the real-life John Snow – 19th-century father of epidemiology who famously worked out how to stop a London cholera outbreak. So he did know something, John Snow, after all…
Also, James would much appreciate some support from his very Special Listening Friend. Please feel free to visit his GoFundMe page – called, obviously, Make James’s Health Great Again.
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James Delingpole is a writer, journalist, and columnist. He is a writer at Breitbart London. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesDelingpole.
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