Fear over Self Confidence

Bertrand de Jouvenel wrote, "The essential psychological characteristic of our age is the predominance of fear over self-confidence.… Everyone of every class tries to rest his individual existence on the bosom of the state and tends to regard the state as the universal provider. " But this protection costs the public far more than the high taxes that fund its provision: "if the state is to guarantee to a man what the consequences of his actions shall be, it must take control of his activities … to keep him out of the way of risks."[