Nuke the Nanny State: A Dream of Life in the Bad Old Days

President Reagan's budget director, David Stockman, once proposed that the federal government run up deficits so massive that the only recourse would be to slash social programs, derisively characterized as the "Nanny State." The social programs were opposed by those who never got over Franklin Roosevelt's election in 1932. Stockman recanted many years later, but we are now at the point that his proposal is close to being implemented. In the face of the national debt of many trillions of dollars and deficits growing by $1.5 trillion annually, we hear calls for a return to the days when taxes were low, the federal government was smaller, and social policies were guided by principles of the free market and compassionate conservatism. Given that harsh budget cuts at the federal and state levels are in the air, we may be moving in that direction. This article explores the question of what might happen if we drastically cut back on social welfare and regulatory programs that developed after 1932. [Copyright American Psychological Association]