Bastiat Government views
After reading through and listening to the lectures of Frederick Bastiat my mind started to think a lot. His definition of the government was something that hit me pretty hard. “That great fiction which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else.” This hit me hard because I have found this to be true. In society we see many people trying to live on government subsidies and wanting handouts. I personally find this true living in a small community. We see a large portion of the population relying on government subsidies to make it. I am personally grateful that this population has these resources to survive, however, just as Frederic Bastiat said, “the government may take it, but cannot restore more than it has taken.” I agree with this in the way of how we the people are taxed, we are taxed on our income, property, purchases, business, toll roads, and many other ways. Of all this that the government receives in taxes how much of that actually makes it back into the communities that truly need the help? While I do understand that the government needs these taxes to function and run, but do we need to be taxed multiple times for them to do so? Could all these taxes be lowered if we kept the tax dollars within the states and not handing it out to other countries like we currently do? If we were to keep it within the states, we would not only limit the nation’s debt, but we would be able to better help these people who are relying on them be able to get to a better place where they no longer need them.
Government Satisfaction
In the first reading on page 96 Bastiat said “I will do what I can to satisfy you, but for this I must have resources. I have been preparing plans for five or six taxes, which are quite new, and not at all oppressive. You will see how willingly people will pay them.” I feel as if he is saying that the government will implement new taxes worded in a way that people will pay them with no problem for how they are worded. They are being implemented in a way that there is no way around them. People are willingly paying them as they know there is no way around them. Bastiat acknowledges that back then the people were being taxed on multiple things such as we are today.
People Pleasing
On page 99 when Bastiat gave his own definition of the government “As it is certain, on the one hand, that we are all making some similar request to the Government; and as, on the other, it is proved that Government cannot satisfy one party without adding to the labor of the other.” This statement right here is the truest statement that I have seen in a long time. We see this is common practice today. This is because we the people of all parties are calling on our congressman whom we have elected into office to fight and push for what we believe is right. While a party or group is striving to make the world a better place in some way it is affecting another group of people in a negative way. There is not a way in a democracy driven country to be able to appease every citizen in the nation. As he moved on down page 99 Bastiat says “Government is that great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.” Why is this? I find this especially true in my generation, I feel as if this is due largely to wanting to start out at a high level and people not wanting to work themselves up to the top. I have friends and family who are the same age and when they graduate with no experience, they want everyone to hand them life on a silver platter or to give them everything they need to live and succeed in life.
Education
As Bastiat moved on to education on page 105 he says “It is bound to teach every citizen his duty to God, to man, and to himself; to develop his sentiments, his tendencies, and faculties……” I believe he is spot on for how the education was setup on these foundations. However, we as a nation have veered away from them as people’s beliefs are not all aligned today. For me personally I agree with Bastiat as these align with my personal views, but I do understand the reasons for what it has come to.
Government Purchases
When Bastiat discusses “To purchase railroads, canals, and mines; and, doubtless, to transit affairs that industrial capacity which patronizes it” (105). I agree with him that these are all great things that the government should be doing, but if we are going to do this and or build them, we should not be giving them to foreign countries such as we did with the Panama Canal. I cannot seem to fathom why this was done one can only assume that this was done to try and get on better grounds with a foreign country. This goes back into taxes and how we continue to take more from the people, but we cannot give more back than what has been taken.