Heatwave: the nanny-state for our own good

During recent periods of heatwave or simply tropical heat, the official authorities have succeeded in exhausting us even more than the temperature, which implies a certain...

«Drink water»

Here are a few examples. In the Paris metro, a voice reminds you every so often to drink water. In Switzerland, RTS is considering whether to stop broadcasting images of children bathing or eating ice cream to illustrate heat waves; others, such as Le Monde, have already implemented this measure. The aim? To make us understand that heatwaves claim victims. That overexposure to the sun or insufficient hydration can put you at risk. That it would be wrong to rejoice in good weather. And that if we do nothing to combat global warming, the situation will only get worse.

So, yes, some parents may not be instilling enough life rules in their children, and their children are at a disadvantage as a result. It's a common argument: education is unequal and therefore not sufficient for society to function properly. Without it, there would be no school, no politics, no justice, no ethics...

However, this fact does not justify the state's call for the entire population to drink water in times of heatwave. Targeted measures can and must be taken. Typically to the elderly and vulnerable, as in the case of pandemics... But please, not to society as a whole! The vast majority of people already know that when it's hot, you need to drink water. Anyone who didn't know would soon realize this on a strictly physiological and instinctive level.

The advent of a maternalist state

This situation is representative of a fundamental trend: the advent of a paternalistic state. Or rather maternalist, as Olivier Delacrétaz pointed out a few months ago in La Nation. More generally, we are witnessing state intervention in the lives of individuals who have no need of it, and who have asked for nothing. If only this intrusion went unnoticed! But it makes you seethe, because it's repetitive, because it keeps your eyes, ears and mind busy, or simply because you don't like being taken for a fool.

The problem isn't so much that political power wants what's best for us: it's just as well that it doesn't want what's worst for us. The problem is that it sees itself as a parent, a godfather, a protector, as if its mission were to discipline us. The good we wish for our children as mothers or fathers is a different kind of good from the public good.

For a healthy relationship between the state and the individual

The ’nanny state« is the expression that has now taken its place in public debate to describe this phenomenon. Mathieu Laine, author of the essay Infantilisation, The nanny state that wants to do you good, writes: «Every day, the nanny state moves further away from Lysander Spooner's motto: ‘Vices are not crimes‘ (...). (...) Wouldn't it be better to imagine a more respectful, fairer, calmer and more virtuous relationship between the state and ourselves? Our leaders and citizens alike need to engage in this debate.’

The virus of infantilization is accompanied by other fevers: bureaucratization, centralization, judicialization, victimization... all of which foster a certain mistrust of individual responsibility. Soon, unless awareness is raised, nothing will escape this whiff of maternalization. The current heatwave is just one example.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

You've just read an open-access article. Debates, analysis, cultural news: subscribe to support us and get access to all our content!

Drawing: © Nathanaël Schmid for Le Regard Libre