Introduction:
In 1850, after three revolutions, France was in a state of utter turmoil and chaos. Paris and many other major cities in France were becoming rapidly industrialized and thousands of people were thrown into poverty and ruin. During this time, there were also major discussions in changing the politics in France. Part of this argument included socialism, and a man by the name of Bastiat Frederic was appalled that this was even being considered. He wrote a large collection of works regarding society, politics, government, and other foundational aspects of nations, one of the most influential entries being, “The Law.” In “The Law,” Bastiat attacks previously traditional ways of thinking, and slanders the idea of socialism, and through his extreme point of view, he is able to truly dissect the nature of law in government and what it really stands for. Some of his most notable arguments include types of plunder, how socialism disguises itself, and his views on government owned programs.
Bastiat’s Basic Principles:
According to Bastiat, laws are “the collective organization of individual right to lawful defense,” (Bastiat 50). He also describes the foundational nature of men and ascribes them only 3 faculties in which they are made up of: personality, liberty, and property. These are the faculties that law stands to protect. These principles are very similar to John Locke’s life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which will be more relevant later in this discussion. Bastiat also clarifies the two deficits of mankind that lead to plunder: naked greed and misconceived philanthropy. While these are definitely aspects to consider, I truly believe that there is more to mankind that contributes to plunder, such as morality, apathy, ignorance, and competition. The idea of plunder is that it is a fundamentally skewed approach to life that favors one group over the other. There are 3 types of plunder: partial plunder, universal plunder, and absence of plunder. In the case of partial and universal plunder, this is when one group is plundered by another, or when everyone plunders everyone else.
Hidden sources of Plunder:
When it comes to morality, mankind was not given an inherit sense of right and wrong. Most aspects of morals have to be taught, and whether or not some learns that from their parents or from their government, inherit morality can be a source of plunder. Electing someone with a skewed set of morals creates an era of universal and legal plunder, in which the leader sets the rules and regulations for the plunder. This is not a form of greed or philanthropy, but rather ties into ignorance – another source of plunder. When someone unknowingly does not educate themselves on the issues of their time, this can lead to devastating plunder. By failing to help those who needed help, simply because the government did not know, is a failure of the nation to its people. For the sole purpose of the government should be to protect the people first (another one of Bastiat’s principles). When the nation prioritizes itself over the people, then that is when the government fails (Bastiat claims this is the root of socialism). Even worse, perhaps is knowingly committing plunder – but this ties in more to greed than anything else. However, unknowingly creating laws that harm one group over another is a source of plunder that is more prevalent in today’s society rather than in post-revolution France. Yet, it may be more relevant to this argument, since everyone alive today is living in the now, and not post-revolution France. In addition to all this, apathy and competition are two more sources of plunder that I have found. While being two different sides of the same coin, those in power who choose do to nothing for the sake of doing nothing are committing unforgivable plunder, just as those who crave competition, so much so that they readily squander another group to ensure their victory. While this also ties into greed, I think there is such a thing as healthy competition – therefore, competition itself is not greed, but rather, an inherit and healthy aspect of mankind. Although Bastiat points out greed and misconceived philanthropy as the two main sources of plunder, I believe that plunder results from a broader scope than that of Bastiat’s analysis.
Socialism and Bastiat’s examples:
Bastiat’s view on socialism is very interesting, and definitely requires more probing. In an attempt to make everyone equal, socialism essentially eliminated the people’s ability to make decisions for themselves. Socialism serves to sort men into categories, just as a gardener shapes his trees and bushes, and just as the gardener uses tools, the socialist government uses laws to achieve this agenda (Bastiat 73). This is an interesting but very relevant comparison considering socialist governments use their power to regulate things like trade, commerce, equity, and labor. However, one issue I had with Bastiat’s reflection of socialism was in his comparisons of France to other “socialist” countries. Some of the examples he used included Egypt, Persia, and the ancient Greeks. Obviously, these countries were never socialist, but rather tyrannical monarchies. The saddest part about these examples is that they do actually get Bastiat’s point across, however, they simply don’t apply to socialism. In these examples, Bastiat talks about the progression of the country and of society was willed by the government, and men blindly followed with no concern for their own individuality. While this does prove to be an effective analogy for socialism, its not like these great societies ever elected their leader. A socialist democracy calls for a fair and valid election, and in the examples given, all the of the leaders were ruling a monarchy. This type of government is very stringent on men following the will of their government, and believe that is the way to reach true honor and dignity. Therefore, these men were truly happy to labor for their nation, as they were rewarded and seen by their leaders. This begs the question: were these leaders inherently bad, even though they were committing plunder? And this begs the other question – is all plunder rooted in evil? As John Locke once voiced his opinion on men’s’ right to their pursuit of happiness, were the men in these societies not also happy to serve their nations. I’ll willingly admit that these nations undoubtedly committed all sorts of plunder, but their citizens did not know anything outside of following the person in power. They were in no condition to rebel considering everyone was happy, and their leader genuinely cared about the betterment of society. Therefore, I think Bastiat picked some bad examples to get his point of view about socialism to come across to his readers.
Government Programs:
Finally, Bastiat had interesting views on government owned programs such as education, healthcare, unemployment, social security, etc. In his writing, he says that government owned programs are doomed to plunder because they are owned by an entity that plunders on a regular basis. Therefore, any government that engages in plunder also imparts plunder on the programs that it offers to its citizens. While I agree with Bastiat to some extent, I don’t necessarily think privately owned programs would solve the problem of plunder, but rather, exasperate crises of multiple kinds across the nation. There are definitely instances of plunder in today’s public education system, for example: failure of state to educate on the trail of tears, today’s issues regarding education on segregation and racism, and many other. However, private institutions cannot be trusted to eliminate plunder from this system, and given the chance, these privately owned institutions would most likely educate the population according to their own individual agendas. Not only is this seen today in church-owned institutions, but the individual agendas of states also pervade in the education system, regardless of who owns it. In addition to the problem regarding plunder, eliminating public education would end in an education crisis – with many unable to afford the luxury of a private education. This issue is also glaring in the case of insurance. With government owned programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and VA Insurance, the plunders are found in what the government considers “coverable” by insurance. These government owned programs actually benefit very few, and many who use this program find themselves unable to get the treatment they need because the government simply does not think that it is essential to life. This is a major plunder of the government and its system. However, that does not necessarily mean that other privately owned forms of coverage are plunder-free. In many cases, families find themselves in situations where insurance will not cover the treatment they need, especially if it is new or experimental. Technically, everyone should be able to make their own decisions about how to be treated, however, insurance (public or privately owned) is the true decision maker on behalf of the individual. Whether public or private, plunder will prevail in these types of systems.
Work Cited:
Ehrlich, Blake. “Paris during and after the French Revolution
(1789 to Mid-19th Century).” Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 July 1998, www.britannica.com/place/Paris/Paris-during-and-after-the-French-Revolution-1789-to-mid-19th-century.
“The Law.” The Bastiat Collection, by Bastiat Frédéric, Ludwig Von Mises Institute, Auburn, Ala, 2011, pp. 49–94.