This attitude (“we know what’s best; your input is not required”) has historically almost always been wrong
Has it really? The cases where it went wrong jump to mind more easily than those where it went right, but I don’t know which way the balance tips overall (and I suspect neither do your nor most readers—it’s a difficult question!).
For example, in past centuries Europe has seen a great rise in litteracy, and a drop in all kinds of mortality, through the adoption of widespread education, modern medical practices, etc. A lot of this seems to have been driven in a top-down way by bureaucratic governments who considered they were working for The Greater Good Of The Nation, and didn’t care that much about the opinion of a bunch of unwashed superstitious hicks.
(Some books on the topic: Seeing Like a State; The Discovery of France … I haven’t read either unfortunately)
Has it really? The cases where it went wrong jump to mind more easily than those where it went right, but I don’t know which way the balance tips overall (and I suspect neither do your nor most readers—it’s a difficult question!).
For example, in past centuries Europe has seen a great rise in litteracy, and a drop in all kinds of mortality, through the adoption of widespread education, modern medical practices, etc. A lot of this seems to have been driven in a top-down way by bureaucratic governments who considered they were working for The Greater Good Of The Nation, and didn’t care that much about the opinion of a bunch of unwashed superstitious hicks.
(Some books on the topic: Seeing Like a State; The Discovery of France … I haven’t read either unfortunately)