Trust & Obey

“The solution to the problems of human relationships is to be found in liberty.” – Frédéric Bastiat’s The Law page 71 (in ebook form)

Have you ever heard of The Law by Frédéric Bastiat? Me neither but it was recommended to me a few weeks ago and since it’s only fifty pages (seventy-four if you read it in ebook format) I decided to try it! If it wasn’t good, it’s only an hour and a half, maybe two that were spent reading a book I didn’t like. After I finished though, I found it a book I am so glad I didn’t miss out on.

Frédéric Bastiat had The Law published back in France in 1850 and it’s been translated from French to English. In the year 1850, the French Revolution had already run its course fifty years prior and Napoleon had his fun waging war thirty-five years ago. Now came the threat of socialism and Karl Marx’s manifesto upon France. In response to the Marxist ideologies, Bastiat wrote this book as the antithesis. He also wrote it to make a strong definition of both socialism and freedom.

Even though this essay could leave High Schoolers swimming, it’s a phenomenal read that I think should be read by anyone. I would recommend you take notes and then think about each portion. Reflecting is needed to read this book, that could be why I took more time than I usually would on a fifty-page read. I recognize that’s a bit more of a hassle but I benefited far more from pondering the book instead of blazing through it.

In our current political landscape, it’s crucial to be reading classics that provide a concrete idea of what different philosophies mean and entail. Anymore, words like freedom aren’t always used properly, and gaining a deeper understanding of those words is important. What is socialism? What is freedom? These are the questions Bastiat answers in The Law. He breaks down each component of socialism to explain why he thinks it’s a system that will fail. He believes that the system that will succeed is freedom. Bastiat explained freedom like this: “In short, is not liberty the freedom of every person to make full use of his faculties [abilities], so long as he does not harm other persons while doing so?” I think the phrase “so long as he does not harm other person while doing so” is critical. Many people are getting confused with freedom and freedom at the expense of others which is no longer freedom because one must suffer for the other to be “free.” In that case, everyone isn’t free, only those who get their way are free and all else are slaves to the formers’ desires. This will later cause a revolt because the weak will become angry. Long story short, socialism and later communism are not lasting in action. They are pretty on paper but ugly in practice.