Relationships to Society

"The Bastiat Collection" by Frédéric Bastiat is a series of essays and pamphlets that address various economic and political topics. Bastiat writes about advocating for free markets, limited government, and individual freedom. In these essays, Bastiat critiques various economic fallacies, such as protectionism. He argues that the market economy, driven by the pursuit of self-interest, is the best means of promoting prosperity and promoting the well-being of society. Bastiat also addresses the relationship between the state and the individual. He argues that the state's role should be limited to protecting individual rights and maintaining order and that it should not interfere in the workings of the market. He also critiques the idea of government intervention in the economy, arguing that such intervention often leads to unintended consequences and actually harms the people it is intended to help.

As I found myself reading, I genuinely felt myself begin to question what I thought for myself when it came to these ideas. Just how involved should a government be? This is touchy because each individual has such differing opinions or thoughts. I believe the government should play a role in our lives but to a fairly short extent. In the first reading I learned about The Law.

The Law

In Chapter 2, Bastiat offers a compelling argument for the role of the law in society. He says that the law should serve a single purpose: to protect the freedom and property of citizens. By doing so, it enables individuals to pursue their own interests, creating a virtuous cycle of economic growth and prosperity. Bastiat critiques laws that go beyond this purpose, such as those that grant monopolies, regulate commerce, or redistribute wealth. He argues that these laws harm society by taking away individual freedom. For example, monopolies stifle competition and limit innovation, while regulations often impose unnecessary costs on businesses and consumers alike. Bastiat believes that these types of laws serve the interests of special interest groups at the expense of the general public. “It is of the law itself, like monopolists of all kinds, that it wants to make an instrument; and when once it has the law on its side, how will you be able to turn the law against it? How will you place it under the power of your tribunals, your gendarmes, and of your prisons? What will you do then? You wish to prevent it from taking any part in the making of laws. You would keep it outside the Legislative Palace. In this you will not succeed, I venture to prophesy, so long as legal plunder is the basis of the legislation within.” (Bastiat, 2011, pg. 61). Here he is talking about how individuals can use the power of the law to benefit themselves and once they have that power it reaches everywhere. According to Bastiat, the law should be impartial and apply equally to all citizens. This means that the law should not be used to achieve personal or political gains, but rather to ensure that everyone has the freedom to pursue their own interests. This requires the law to be written in a clear and concise manner, so that it can be understood and applied evenly. The law should not be a tool of oppression, but rather a means of ensuring that society operates in a fair and just manner. Should the law be reformed to align with these principles? I find it very hard to say, it’s too difficult to predict the true outcomes. However, the law should have less involvement in our lives without a doubt. This chapter showed that the law should serve a single purpose: to protect the freedom and property of citizens. By doing so, it enables individuals to pursue their own interests and contributes to the overall prosperity of society.

The Government

In chapter three, Government, Bastiat argues that government's primary function is to protect individual rights and property. He asserts that without the protection of rights and property, society would devolve into chaos, as individuals would resort to violence to defend their own interests. Therefore, government must exist to ensure that everyone's rights and property are respected and protected. When government exceeds its mandate to protect individual rights and property, it can become a tool of oppression and injustice. Bastiat points out that this tendency of government to overstep its bounds is rooted in the tendency of individuals to seek benefits at the expense of others. He argues that government officials are not immune to this temptation and that, without proper checks and balances, theywill be prone to abuse their power. This leads to the rise of special interest groups and the concentration of power left to a few. “It is proved that Government cannot satisfy one party without adding to the labor of the others.” (Bastiat, 2011, pg. 99). This chapter continues to be relevant today. A clear and concise defense of the importance of limited government and individual rights, and warns against the dangers of government overreach has been handed to us, we just have to know how to use it.

The Tax on Light

One of my more favorite chapters was “"The Petition of the Manufacturers of Candles, Waxlights, Lamps, Candlelights, Street Lamps, Snuffers, Extinguishers, and the Producers of Oil, Tallow, Resin, Alcohol, and, Generally, of Everything Connected" because it is a satirical essay. In this essay, Bastiat uses irony and humor to critique the concept of protectionism, the economic policy of shielding a country's domestic industries from foreign competition through tariffs and other restrictions. “What we pray for is that it may please you to pass a law ordering the shutting up of all windows, skylights, dormer-windows, outside and inside shutters, curtains, blinds, bull’s-eyes; in a word, of all openings, holes, chinks, clefts, and fissures, by or through which the light of the sun has been in use to enter houses, to the prejudice of the meritorious manufactures with which we flatter ourselves we have accommodated our country—a country that, in gratitude, ought not to abandon us now to a strife so unequal.” (Bastiat, 2011, p.228) This reference uses humor to clearly demonstrate just how foolish it would be to use protectionism to shield a country from foreign competition. It makes it beyond easy to agree with and understand at the same time.The essay is written in the form of a petition to the French legislative body, in which the candle makers request protection from the competition of the sun. They argue that the sun is a free source of light that is destroying their businesses and ask the government to put up a tax or a law that would force people to use candles instead of the sun. Bastiat uses this absurd request to highlight the flaws of protectionism. He points out that the candle makers are essentially asking the government to limit the freedom of individuals and restrict their choices, in order to benefit their own interests. “You have ceased to have any right to invoke the interest of the consumer; for, whenever his interest is found opposed to that of the producer, you sacrifice the former.” (Bastiat, 2011, pg. 230). To me, protectionism is not a solution to the problem of competition, but rather a barrier to progress and innovation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’ve provides a clear and insightful analysis of the role of the state & government in society. Its been clear to see that the state is an important entity that has been created by society in order to protect individual rights and maintain order, but that its power must be limited in order to prevent it from becoming a threat to individual rights. These ideas continue to be relevant today and continue to inform college students like myself.

Reference:
Bastiat Fred́ eric. The Bastiat Collection. Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 2011 ́ .
Bastiat Image. The Nassau Institute.