Newspeak
Great Britain is many ways a canary in the coalmine for the US. If this does happen in Britain, can we be far behind?
A ban on the sale of cigarettes to anyone who does not pay for a government smoking permit has been proposed by Health England, a ministerial advisory board.
The idea is the brainchild of the board’s chairman, Julian Le Grand, who is a professor at the London School of Economics and was Tony Blair’s senior health adviser. In a paper being studied by Lord Darzi, the health minister appointed to oversee NHS reform, he says many smokers would be helped to break the habit if they had to make a decision whether to “opt in”.
The permit might cost as little as £10, but acquiring it could be made difficult if the forms were sufficiently complex, Le Grand said last night.
His paper says: “Suppose every individual who wanted to buy tobacco had to purchase a permit. And suppose further they had to do this every year. To get a permit would involve filling out a form and supplying a photograph, as well as paying the fee. Permits would only be issued to those over 18 and evidence of age would have to be provided. The money raised would go to the NHS.”
Le Grand said the proposal was an example of “libertarian paternalism”.
He got the paternalism part right. I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’ observation, “Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.”
Posted on February 21st, 2008 by pwyll
Filed under: nanny state
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I just quite smoking 2 months ago. If such foolishness came to the US — though I doubt it will — I’ll have to start up again ( I’ve done it before) in solidarity with my smoking brothers and sisters.
America needs universal healthcare, but not the paternalism that politician / health advisers tack onto it.
On a similar note, I’m watching how the Supremes rule on the Parker case, the first interpretation of the 2nd Amendment in 60 years. If they uphold DC’s gun ban (which I see as unlikely), I’m getting a gun.
Why does America need universal healthcare? And why would we want the most inefficient organization in our country to be the one to provide it? Ask a vet how great VA care is.