Libertarian Paternalism or Paternalistic Welfarism — NUDGES Viewed through the Orwellian Looking Glass
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12726/tjp.22.5Abstract
Libertarian paternalism is often considered as an oxymoron that uses the means of libertarianism to meet the ends of paternalism. It is considered as paternalistic as it covertly transforms into a paternalistic apparatus through the endorsement of the choices the State/authority wants people to make. It is argued that since libertarian paternalism invokes incentives which works differently than coercion, this paper and various other scholars reiterate and respond by arguing that the mere replacement of coercion with incentives does not make libertarian paternalism less paternalistic. A libertarian paternal State exploits the malleability of men to mould their behaviour according to the propositions of the ruling class which the rulers often assert to be in the best interests of the masses. In this article, Orwell‟s Animal Farm, would be used as an analogy to unpack and conceptually analyse the ethical implications of libertarian paternalism.
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