The Law by Frederic Bastiat
As I read through Frederic Bastiat’s The Law, I realize that his discussions appear in today’s society and will always continue to exist in society as long as we have government and human nature. In the beginning of his book, Bastiat firmly emphasizes that God has given man human resources to convert into products to allow our man’s life to “run its course” (“Life Is a Gift from God”). I don’t believe we necessarily exist to produce products and use them to improve our lives. Yes, they do make man’s life easier and improves his quality of living, but Bastiat shouldn’t have emphasized it this greatly at the beginning.
Further into the book, Bastiat states that a nation would have essentially a perfect government if they followed the basic principle of law, to protect the rights of man. I agree that protecting the rights of man should serve as a critical foundation for any government but this idea does not practically make the state a “most simple, easy to accept, economical, limited, non-oppressive, just, and enduring government” (“A Just Enduring Government”).
Later in the same section, I start getting an understanding of Bastiat’s political ideology. The author mentions “non intervention of the state in private affairs” which hinted that he leans more towards small government (“A Just and Enduring Government”). He shares similar principles as today’s Republican Party in America such as advocating business, small government, and the rights of man. I find it fascinating that the same political ideologies are relevant today just as much as they were back in Bastiat’s time.
In the author’s discussion of how stupid greed perverts the law, he mentions how some people will “prosper at the expense of others” if given the chance (“A Fatal Tendency of Mankind”). I agree that nothing good comes from “[wishing] to live and prosper” at the expense of others (“A Fatal Tendency of Mankind”). People who take and give nothing back will always drive society down the path of ruin and turmoil. How does society progress and move forward if we have people who live off of government benefits and contribute to society by working? My parents immigrated to America and I saw first hand how hard they worked to improve our lives. They’ve instilled that work ethic into me, so I get very frustrated when I see people taking advantage of the hard work of others. To me, it shows that they simply don’t want to put in the work to improve themselves. Scaling this up to a bigger perspective, if we have a country of people who are lazy and have no desire to get better, then we have a stagnant nation on our hands, a land that doesn’t progress or improve. Although I disagree with some of Bastiat’s views and agree with some others, one cannot deny that his beliefs are valid in both the 19th century and 21st century.
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