… is from page 12 of Philip K. Howard’s 2024 book, Everyday Freedom:
What’s lost in our time are the microeconomic truths of how humans and institutions achieve things. Daily achievements of most people consist of many small and large choices. The freedom to make these daily choices is the essential mechanism by which anything good happens.
DBx: Yep.
Yet look around and you’ll encounter all sorts of people eager to restrict your and others’ freedom to make peaceful choices. Protectionists and industrial-policyists believe that they, not you, know better how to choose to spend your income. “Nudgers” and the grossly misnamed “libertarian paternalists” want to put their thumbs on your choice scale to ‘nudge’ you to choose as they, not you, believe you should choose. Proponents of most government economic regulation are convinced that government officials directing the uses of other people’s money – rather than individuals directing the uses of their own money – will choose better how resources should be allocated.
Precious few people truly believe that peaceful adults should be free to choose.
