Prominently lauded and recommended on the book cover by Daniel Kahneman – co-author of ‘The Undoing Project,’ along with Amon Tversky - 'Nudge' is the practical application extension of Kahneman and Tversky's theory and research in behavioral economics.
To give just one example, Thaler and Sunstein brainstormed ideas for normalizing gay marriage in the first edition of their book, published in 2008. In their 'Final Edition' - the version I read - they explain that governments around the world, rather than relying on nudges like they recommended, just passed laws declaring gay marriage the law of the land. And they were happy with that.
But Thaler and Sunstein say “We do not support a position known as “Presumed Consent,” but we do support freedom of choice.” And by this they seem to consistently mean what Progressives all over America do when they talk about being Pro Choice - freedom of choice for those whose humanity is fully recognized and affirmed.
Expressing a notably low opinion of conservatives and conservatism as contrary to progress, Thaler and Sunstein proposed government getting out of marriage entirely in their earlier edition. The civil union strategy was to serve as a kind of end-run around traditionalist and conservative arguments against by playing games with the language. They were also pleasantly surprised Obama came out in favor of gay marriage in a reversal of course from his initial campaign claims and pledges.
Countries that legalized gay marriage in the early 2000’s and 2010’s listed in 'Nudge,' each homosexual coming out of the closet is cited by them as an individual 'nudge.'
So also, they talk about how in 2013 an openly homosexual bar association was admitted to argue cases at the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time, introducing 30+ lawyers who were homosexuals to Supreme Court Justices. This too served to nudge SCOTUS to the 2015 decision that judicial body made in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Meanwhile, from a social and cultural standpoint, presenting normalization of acceptance for homosexuals and thereafter gay marriage as an up and coming reality, an inevitable trend, helped to make the same into a self-fulfilling prophecy even before it was actually a reality.
In other words, they lied. They created the false impression, much like Ben Rhodes bragged about creating an echo chamber of disinformation in the American media regarding the Iran Nuclear Deal. It didn't hurt that David was both Ben's brother and president of CBS News from 2011-2019, by the way.
But “people can even nudge themselves" seems a kind of after-thought for Thaler and Sunstein. The realization of such gets downright creepy when you come to the chapter on organ donation and an exploration of options available to governments regarding the supply and demand of transplantable organs, including the suggestion that a market could be created for them to be bought and sold. Isn't that what the CCP has been doing?
And it gets downright menacing when they talk about government responses to COVID and Climate Change around the world, in no small part with the help of their influences.
'The Prince,' 'Propaganda,' 'Rules for Radicals' - Thaler and Sunstein's work feels like a dressed-up and modernized version of these and other books I’ve read which the Left in the U.S. especially is fond of using for strategic source material. It would seem Progressive realpolitik decided to put on a smiley face just as Goldberg's 'Liberal Fascism' foretold.
The cure for what ails American society is not more nudges. The solution is for manipulative folks to stop manipulating the Nudged Enough Already. So maybe we need a new political movement. We'll call it the NEA Party. It’ll be like the TEA Party, but countering nudges instead of taxes and regulations. Those who join soonest and fight hardest we will call “the knights who say NEA.”
