More things too important for individuals to manage for themselves

I have ranted before about those who think and want everyone to think that medical care is far too important to be left to uninformed, selfish egotistical decisions that physicians and patients are likely to make when they meet secretly in the former's office away from the watchful eyes of third party payers and conspire to spend some one else's money.The last thing a rationing unit would want to happen is to allow the unfettered actions of doctors and patients to prevail. DrRich's writings have made that point with great literary skill.

That activity makes sense if you consider the "pay with other people's money principle" but groups other than third party payers also share in similar movements and I am less sure of their motives. Case in point are the activities of several local public health units in moving to monitor the blood sugar levels - as surrogated for by the Hemoglobin A1C levels-of citizens without their consent.They would have us believe that the public health imperative is so strong that diabetes treatment cannot be left to willy-nilly, half hearted efforts of individual physicians and their patients.

We are seeing more and more of that same type of thinking in regard to "managing" the food intake and other activities of children. There are major efforts out there by groups who believe that what a child eats and what activities they do are too important to be left to the uniformed,almost-negligence proclivities of parents.After all it is those parents who are to blame for the current ever growing epidemic of fat kids.

Great Britain and Canada seem to be a bit ahead of the U.S. in this nanny-state nutritional impetus but we are closing fast.Sandy Szwarc in her July 15,2008 entry give us this instance of how far it is going in one region of England where parents may not be "allowed" to send lunches to school with their children.

Hayek writes of the "Fatal Conceit" of those who not only believe they know what is best for everyone but also see fit to take measures to insure that their wisdom becomes operational even it means the power of the state will enforce it.