Lazification of a Nation

Did anyone else here see Wall*E, the movie? I went along with the kids and aside from some nice animation was rather unenthralled by it. However, one of the main themes in the movie is how humans become reliant upon machines and/or computers to do all this work for them resulting in lazy, overweight, non-thinking humans. I was reminded of this while reading this story. Losing a child has to be a scary situation but I'm waiting for this kind of use of technology to become a crutch for parents who just don't want to take the time to know what their offspring are up to. It comes down to personal responsibility - on both parts - the kids for their actions and the parents for being parents. Having a GPS trackable watch is great for when your kid is lost at the mall or, heaven forbid, is abducted but when it's 10 o'clock at night and your child is not home on a school night - maybe you should *know* and not have to rely on this watch. Yes, teenagers push the limits and will probably sneak out (although, try sneaking out of the Castle Gormogon...go ahead...I dare you - I will warn you, I've seen the 'Puter in the woods around the moat).

Taking this one step further, what if we substitute "government" for "machines and/or computers"? Is that where we're heading in this country? In essence, that is the thrust behind the Libertarian Paternalism movement - individuals either can't, won't or don't make the "right" decisions, so government is here to help nudge them in the right way. Be forewarned - it could be in our future.