The Fear of Freedom

Cato Institute analyst Radley Balko has a great post today on his blog The Agitator, in which he quotes a couple of very well-spoken sources about how Americans are increasingly turning to a parentalist (as opposed to paternalist) state to make their decisions for them because they fear being free to make bad decisions.

Some choice quotes:

Our submission is absolute: We want to be operated like puppets and provided for like pets.

The terrorists hate our freedom. But we should be comfortable with that. We hate our freedom, too.

and

And it seems evident that many persons do not want to shoulder the final responsibility for their own actions..[They] want to be told what to do and when to do it; they seek order rather than uncertainty, and order comes at an opportunity cost they seem willing to bear.