Alyssa Rooks
Dr. Trost
Feb. 3, 2023
Frédéric Bastiat Essay
Bastiat covers three main topics of government, law, and petition in his writings. As said in the “Government” video, Bastiat shows his opinion when he explains that the government is, “That great fiction” (“Government” essay video). I agree with him on this personal definition because the government will never make sense to me. Although the government is real, I do not feel as if it is fair, sometimes, and the government is scamming the citizens. I do think that people like to profit off others that do their labor. For example, a new website, Shein, has gained a ton of popularity over the past year because they have cute clothes that are very cheap. These underpaid workers that work in these big factories must go through harsh work every single day, so people can brag about their cute, cheap clothes; I think that this is a form of profiting off others, even if it is not direct. Bastiat also exposed his opinion of the government when he claimed, “In order to give, the government must first take” (“Government” essay video). I completely agree with him because the government does what it needs to be successful, instead of doing what is good for the citizens. The government has many secrets that few people know, but one thing everyone knows is that it is unfair. The government is supposedly here “…to cause justice and security to reign” (Frederic, 2011, p.107). This quote shows how the government needs to protect the citizens with their full effort. Nowadays, there is a lot of racial discrimination amongst citizens and social injustice is found everywhere. Personally, I do not think that the government has done their best to try and fix any part of it.
The video about “The Law” shows how the three main components of laws are, “Liberty. Equality. Fraternity” (“The Law” Essay video). I think that everyone has the liberty that the government has provided which is basically free will. Equality has gotten better over the centuries, but it is not fixed, at all. Fraternity deals with the aspect of brotherhood and sisterhood and I like to think of that as my friends and family. I think that these three words are similar because they deal with compliance and trust among others. Legal plunder is an important part of the “The Law” since Bastiat tells us that, “Legal plunder is in human greed and misconceived philanthropy” (“The Law” Essay video). Legal plunder is a very confusing concept to me because slaves can be legal, but an 18-year-old has the right to vote but cannot drive a rental car. There are many unjust and debatable laws, since a young adult has the right to have a role in the control of the government, but still cannot do simple things. The Law connects with the government, and we can see that when Bastiat claims, “Law is organized justice” (Frederic, 2011, p.62). The law is made from the opinions of few people which does not sit right with me. I think if everyone were having to follow a law, then everyone should have a say in it.
In the video containing the “Petition” essay, Bastiat talks about the unfairness of trade amongst foreign countries. I think that the blockade of imports would only cause more tension with foreign countries. All trade would have to be fair trade for it to work, obviously, but blocking it off completely would cause chaos. Other countries will not be provided the goods they need and will just keep growing more and more of what they already have. He explains how one should not take something for granted when he says, “If you urge that the light of the sun is a gratuitous gift of nature, and that to reject such gifts is to reject wealth itself under pretense of encouraging the means of acquiring it, we would cau- tion you against giving a death-blow to your own policy” (Frederic, 2011, p.230). I think he means that if one is willing to see the good in the bad, then they will find happiness wherever they go; if one sees the bad in everything, then they will not be happy or satisfied with anything. There is most likely a medium where everything is neutral, but neutral is not good enough for a lot of people. This shows that Bastiat really pushed for more people to see the bright side of things, so they could be happy with how little or how much they had.
Overall, Bastiat exposes the unfairness within liberty, the government, trade, and law. He shows how he thinks these are unequal and unfair in different ways to him specifically and to citizens. I, for the most part, agree with Bastiat because I do not think the laws and government have done the best job to protect us, since the government is a scam, and many laws are unjust. I am not very familiar with trade among foreign countries, so I do not have a valid opinion on that aspect that he wrote about. He covered many different topics in just those three writings which shows he was a good writer and had evidence to back up his way of thinking.
References
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.
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.
