‘If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” A sentiment shared by James Madison in 1788 that I think Frédéric Bastiat greatly concludes with in several of his literary prose. As expanded upon in his piece, Government, we as humans strive to live our lives at the expense of others in order to have full enjoyment of our existence. Due to natural human greed we strive to limit our own discomforts and do not care if others are harmed for our own benefit.
Although these opinions might have been proclaimed about life in the 18th century I still believe that we seek to profit off of others misfortunes even in current times. One of the most prominent examples in modern day society exists within what has often been referred to as, “modern day slavery,” i.e sweatshops and human trafficking. We are prone to turn a blind eye to those trapped in harsh working conditions, many of whom are being trafficked, simply because we benefit from the cheap prices or importance of the items they create or services they provide.
There has been a long time debate about the ethics of the fashion industry, but very little has been done to limit the abuse of workers simply because we see our own benefit as more important than the harm that is caused. We fret about children trapped in factories working hours on end entrapped in debt, yet we have no issue adding a $10 jacket to our online shopping cart knowing it will be on our doorstep tomorrow. Now, the United States is one example of a nation that has chosen to take a stance against harmful working conditions. Through acts such as The Fair Labor Standards Act, we say that we value just and safe working conditions for all workers in our nation. Additionally, recently through the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act we have claimed to take a stance against products coming in from nations that operate large forced labor mills.
However, due to legal loopholes like The de minimis provision companies like Shein that have supposedly been banned in the U.S. are still able to ship their goods and get around their “ban.” Shein is able to not pay duty fees and taxes on the goods they ship to the United States allowing them to continue to operate forced labor mills while making large profit from a nation that has supposedly banned their products. In his piece, The Law, Frédéric Bastiat states, “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law” (Bastiat 7). I think this perfectly exemplifies our nation's attitude towards companies like Shein. We choose to turn a blind eye to the issue of forced child labor claiming we have laws in place to prevent the purchase of such made items yet,we clearly know that these products are still getting into this country and choose to not place limitations on the loopholes that exist. This leaves us in a tough moral dilemma as we must choose to also turn a blind eye, losing our morality or take a stance against such practices which calls into question our belief in the law.
Although I found Frédéric Bastiat’s stance quite harsh at first, calling the public education system a legal plunder, the more I began to mull it over the more I began to agree. We as citizens pay a considerable amount in taxes with the promise that it will all be reimbursed to us in the form of beneficial services for the greater public. We diligently fill out our tax forms expecting profitable return through improved infrastructure, economic prosperity, national security, and a better educated public. However, if you truly consider the public education system in America you will begin to realize that we are not truly reaping the benefits of our tax dollars. Some states like Massacussets excel in education at a national standard with excellent test scores indicating an impressive curriculum; however, states like Oklahoma are at a grave disadvantage in terms of education at a national standard. Since we are forced to pour into a system that promises to be advantageous to the future of our nation, why is it that there is a great divide in the quality of education across the nation as a whole? This discrepancy should be ultimately concerning due to the fact that the future of our nation rests in the hands of the currently educated, not just the hands of the best educated showing a future of certain instability due to lacking educational proficiency.
This forceful participation through taxation of personal finances emulates modern day “false philanthropy”, a root of Legal Plunder as Bastiat describes. By being forced to pour back into the community through your taxes being given to school funding you are a direct supporter of an academic system that may not be offering proper education or resources to its students. The current public education system places great emphasis on standardized testing which eliminates the students ability to holistically learn material and question the matter they are being taught as their intelligence is measured by score and score alone. As Bastiat argues, false philanthropy destroys liberty and justice, this can directly be seen as when your tax dollars are directly funneled into the public education system you forgo all liberty to decide what type of educational environment you voice support for. If you are passionate about ending the lack of equal opportunity to education in America you are limited in liberty to vocalize your concerns because no matter how hard you campaign for equal access to education your dollars are directly contributing to the limiting system itself. Furthermore, you give up your sense of justice as you are directly contributing to a system that undermines the education of those who are deemed less valuable in society simply due to the socio economic status of their family. Wealthier neighborhoods generate greater property tax and therefore they are able to build better schools and hire better teachers giving students from a wealthier background increased educational opportunity. Those who grew up in less affluent communities suffer from a lack of educational opportunity and advancement opportunity simply because of an uneven distribution of educational funding, a system which continues to keep those who were born in poverty trapped in poverty. Those who strive for equity in this nation directly give up their right to achieve justice by continuing to fund institutions that work against them. On the surface public education is an extraordinary advantage in America, however once you start to analyze the system its self you begin to see the cracks that will eventually lead to greater harm than good.
