The latest issue of Commentary magazine features Heather Wilhelm’s review of the new book from former Obama regulatory czar Cass Sunstein. In addition to noting the irony that a book “describing the various rules and regulations enacted during Obama’s first term — including those charming trifles known as ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank” is titled Simpler: The Future of Government, Wilhelm offers a brief synopsis of the disconcerting nature of Sunstein’s push to involve government in more areas of the average person’s daily decision-making process.
The most troubling aspect of Simpler, however, is not that Cass Sunstein thinks that people tend to be hapless yokels. It’s not even that he takes bureaucratic hubris to a mind-boggling new level. It’s that he explicitly acknowledges the very serious problems that can accompany government paternalism — that public officials can be biased, corrupt, or devoid of proper knowledge; that people need freedom and must learn from their mistakes; that people might actually like and cherish taking risks; that the free market can solve problems and create innovation far better than government officials can; that paternalism can make people’s lives worse, not better — and he still doesn’t mind. He is a man on a mission. He and his acolytes are here, whether you like it or not, to help.
