More paternalism seems like an awful idea. The same woman who recommended it had just earlier asked about how leaders seem just as influenced by mindless group identity as voters. So I'd rather not have then try to control my life more. For instance, Christian nationalists have ideas about what is good for me that I very much disagree with and more importantly they aren't rational or basing what they're saying on decent empirical research.
The talk about foreign "democracy promotion" failing seems too simplistic. I'm not sure that the USA ever intended on genuinely spreading democracy in most cases of regime change wars. It doesn't seems like a useful thing to bring up here.
The instances of regime change were done as means to an end, doesn't necessarily mean that those "means" weren't also an integral part of the mindset that carried out those wars, even if the ultimate goal is economic or geo-strategic rather than ideological. I agree that the examples are too tangential here, though.
