The Petition
Bastiat explains to us in a sarcastic manner that the men making this invention could care less to put in a lot of work into their work. The author tells us that these men want nothing to do with the system, and these men don't believe in rules. This group of people have foreign competitors. Bastiat makes sarcastic remarks about how the invention of light shuts away the natural light that we get for free. Bastiat wants the men to realize that we should be grateful that we get natural light for free and don't need things like light fixtures. The author then explains how making this light will make the demand for resources raise. Making this light will increase the amount of money we put into products and resources.
You have yourselves obviated this objection. When you are
told that the consumer is interested in the free importation of
iron, coal, corn, textile fabrics—yes, you reply, but the producer
is interested in their exclusion. Well, be it so; if consumers are
interested in the free admission of natural light, the producers of
artificial light are equally interested in its prohibition. (Bastiat 2011, p.230)
I don't think us as a population realize how lucky we are to have free natural light. What Bastiat is trying to explain to us is that we will take any resource that is for free because it's easy and benefits us. What we don't realize is that artificial light is almost pointless due to the fact the sun gives us the light we need. Bastiat wants to exploit the artificial light because to him it is pointless and defeats the whole purpose of the sun. I completely agree with Bastiat's argument. Nature gave us this natural resource that lights up our homes and days. We take for granted the natural resources we were given. It's sad to think that people made a silly invention so that they could make more money and use up more of our resources. If we as humans weren't so lazy we could be saving so much money by doing and making things ourselves. I wish we realized how grateful we should be for having the sun. The fact the sun lights our day and we don't have to pay a dime for it is crazy to think about.
The Government
Bastiat starts off the essay by explaining how society wishes they had a complete definition of the word government. The government is one of the most well known groups in society because they run society. The people of the world rely on the government to make this world a safe and perfect place for them. There is so much pressure on the government to make things perfect and do the right thing because it is their job and the people are relying on them. The government explains to us that in order to get everything we want they need to raise taxes because they can't afford everything all at once. It's sad, but the government puts taxes on everything for their benefit. Everyone knows that government does not fill the people's needs.
Such a course of conduct prevents the trouble and
the enjoyment from assuming their natural proportion, and
causes all the trouble to become the lot of one set of persons, and
all the enjoyment that of another. This is the origin of slavery and
of plunder, whatever its form may be—whether that of wars,
taxes, violence, restrictions, frauds, etc.—monstrous abuses, but
consistent with the thought that has given them birth. Oppression
should be detested and resisted—it can hardly be called trivial. (Bastiat 2011, p.98)
The government makes people's problems other people's problems. The government trys everything in their power to make us deal with their issues when it's mostly their mistakes. All the government does is take from us and make unfair rules so that they can have success. People are living off of other people's income because the government made an unfair rule to help the poor.
The Law
The law is what helps the population stay stable and not put the world in a chaos
Existence, faculties, assimilation—in other words, personality,
liberty, property—this is man.
It is of these three things that it may be said, apart from all
demagogic subtlety, that they are anterior and superior to all
human legislation.
It is not because men have made laws, that personality, liberty,
and property exist. On the contrary, it is because personality, liberty, and property exist beforehand, that men make laws. What,
then, is law? As I have said elsewhere, it is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense. (Bastiat 2011, p.50)
This quote helps us understand the meaning of being apart of an association. The law is here to protect us not hurt us. The law is a self defense for us humans.
References
Bastiat Frédéric. (2011). 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
with Lighting. In The bastiat collection (pp. 227–232). essay, Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Bastiat Frédéric. (2011). Government. In The bastiat collection (pp. 95–107). essay, Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Bastiat Frédéric. (2011). The Law. In The bastiat collection (pp. 49–94). essay, Ludwig von Mises Institute.