States Playing Nanny.

I just read two reports about disputes over health and safety legislation. One came from Uruguay and was about anti-smoking laws. The other referred to an Australian plan to effectively force the children of poor parents to be immunised against the parents’ will.

They brought up an old question that has troubled me for a long time: where should the line be drawn between a government’s obligation to keep its people safe, and its equally important obligation to allow freedom of choice? It makes defining ‘democracy’ a difficult business.

(I have to say that I’ve read several reports about Australian legislation over the past few years that have made me wonder how the hell people who value freedom of choice can bear to live there. Maybe it isn’t as bad as it seems.)