It is said British Conservative Party member Iain McLeod was the first person to coin the phrase 'Nanny State' in the December 1965 edition of The Spectator. The clever bastard also came up with the nifty term 'Stagflation.'
Mr Macleod probably had no idea that this golden term ('The Nanny State', that is - turns out 'Stagflation' didn't really have wings) would eventually become one of the most formidable weapons in the political lexicon. Liberals rally against The Nanny State while Singapore is proud to be a Nanny State. In New Zealand, the country's leading parties flip the term more frequently than a fishwife's accusatory finger - when Labour was in power, National accused them of enforcing Nanny State Policies; now they're in power, National find themselves fending off claims that they are guilty of the same.
But what exactly is The Nanny State? Like many jargonisms before it, the term has descended into a sea of meaningless rhetoric and empty semantics, flung from the furthest backbenches to the streetside soapbox.
Put simply, The Nanny State describes the amount of control a government enforces upon its people. The Online Cambridge Dictionary sums up The Nanny State thus:
"A government which tries to give too much advice or make too many laws about how people should live their lives, especially about eating, smoking, or drinking alcohol"
Which serves as a perfect definition for this filter blog.
Think of it this way: if the Orwellian vision of Big Brother is one of the government's all-seeing eyes, then The Nanny State in one of the government's restrictive arms, actively interfering in our day-to-day through legislation; dictating and enforcing how we should live. For The Nanny State's supporters, this is a good thing - for her detractors, this can only lead to an lawfully imprisoned world and a total lack of citizen's liberties.
Either way, it's imperative to be be educated about what The Nanny State looks like - because one day, she might just come knocking at your door.
This topic is completely new to me, and I’m very glad I now have an insight to it! The Nanny State may indeed be a title the New Zealand Government could hold, as you have proved by the smoking rules applied to our entire country.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, the Online Cambridge Dictionary advises that this way of governing is often applied to the counties habits of eating, smoking or drinking alcohol. I then beg, if smoking has restrictions – where are the food restrictions?? There are currently no limits as to where or when you can eat McDonalds, and let’s be honest – there probably should be!!! (I could certainly use this in my life anyway!) Perhaps if the Government decided to Nanny State (have I used the phrase correctly here?) our nations fast food intake, we might find out country healthier. And in time, less Government money would need to be spent on saving the lives of those who have obesity related heart attacks and illnesses! Just a thought…
This topic made me really angry! I was living quite happily unaware that we were indeed living in a Nanny State, being told when, where or how to eat, drink or smoke. But now that you have mentioned it, I'm angry at the government and society for letting it get this way!
ReplyDeleteNow don't get me wrong, I can see the benefit of some regulations for this "Greater Good" you mention, but there has got to be a limit, right?
I agree with Jennifer's point about possible food restrictions, considering the obesity epidemic that is ongoing.
Ggood thoughts teamsters.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten a bit carried away with the smoking issue here, but it's only the tip of the iceberg really - even in New Zealand, the government has been actively involved in regulating food (especially in schools) and obviously they've been very active in adjustments to the drinking age, and tightening up the selling of liquor.
I'll be looking at these in my next few blogs.
You're spot on though - when you really look, it's surprising how much of the government's active involvement in our everyday lives goes by unnoticed - this whole thing is about the tension between how we as citizens hold on to our freedoms, or indeed what we perceive as our freedoms.
But yeah, hold on, there's more to come with food and alcohol. The Nanny State has been very busy recently here in New Zealand.
Wow that's a bit of an eye opener, I knew that the Government had a bit of control but now that it has a title to me i can see there is a lot of it going around, the regulation on how much one is allowed to drink, and even where you are and aren't allowed to drink alcohol.The school thing is a huge example of this, I can remember whan the healthy eating in tuck shops became an issue when i was there.
ReplyDeleteI'm not angry at the government for this but I am a little concerned on how this may affect us in the possible future if they try to limit more and more. Facinating topic.