Traffic Lights and Covid-19

[Cateran]

No, I am not posting about biological warfare or Agent Orange. You might be puzzled about my juxtaposition above, but my thread actually centres upon state compulsion and voluntary behaviour, namely hard and soft paternalism. No sane person accelerates through a red light when driving a car, so traffic lights are an example of hard paternalism, a symbol if you will of compliance and obedient behaviour. If the government wants to encourage soft paternalism then its current advice is non-regulatory, there is no compulsion as yet, to wash our hands and self-isolate or maintain social distancing. This weekend is a watershed moment when our parents, the state or government, brings in laws to compel us to keep our distance, by banning regulations, i.e hard paternalism. It is already happening in my country Scotland. Some of you may think that this is a sign of moral weakness and unruly childish anarchism, that the Scots need to be told what to do by mum and dad government. So, before we rush out to sanitise the nearest traffic lights, then perhaps the Cabinet and its COBRA myrmidons are finally thinking rationally and placing public interest before their own. That'll be the day!