Book 44

The Law by Frederic Bastiat

Type: Nonfiction

My rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Why I chose it: I came across this book in passing a few times, but I directly became aware of its significance while recently attending a conference which included speeches by Congressman Ron Paul (author of End the Fed) and Thomas E. Woods (author of Meltdown).

What I liked about it: Written in 1850, this is one of the quintessential books on the principles of liberty and freedom. Many of Bastiat's parables are still used today. The best "take-away" from this book is the super-simple way Bastiat describes what would, or would not, be an acceptable law. He writes:

"If the very purpose of law is the protection of individual rights, then law may not be used - without contradiction - to accomplish what individuals have no right to do."

And he writes:

"See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime."

Therefore, if an individual has no right to steal money from his neighbor then a law cannot be imposed which would take money from an individual, for example, via taxation. If an individual cannot compel another to purchase health insurance, then a law cannot compel an individual to buy it either.

Bastiat defined liberty in the following manner:

"In short, is not liberty the freedom of every person to make full use of his faculties, so long as he does not harm other persons while doing so?"

Bastiat says that,

"the purpose of government is precisely to secure individuals in their rights to life, liberty, and property."

He goes on to say that,

"Life, liberty and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place."

My favorite passage from the book was, "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." Think of a person who believes that life begins at conception and believes that abortion is morally wrong. Now read that quote again. That's a powerful statement.

This is a truly remarkable book which would serve us extremely well if we applied its principles in today's environment. Bastiat's version of what would be acceptable law would not include taxpayer-funded bailouts; requiring citizen to buy health insurance or be fined; and most certainly would not include mandatory H1N1 flu vaccinations.

Book 43

Night by Elie Wiesel

Type: Memoir

My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Why I chose it: This story about a survivor from the Holocaust caught my eye and has been on my bookshelf for some time. I recently met a young student who had to read the book as part of an English assignment in high school. That interaction caused me to pick it up and read it.

What I liked about it: This is a very sad story told from the perspective of a 15-year old on being taken from his home along with his family to concentration camps. The boy questions how God could allow such monstrous events to happen. I am saddened that such atrocities could happen and that humans could possibly cause so much harm to other humans.

Book 42

The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen

Type: Fiction, Historical Fiction

My rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Why I chose it: I thought the premise of this book and its setting amid the 1918 Spanish influenza was a very timely topic given all the media frenzy involving the so-called "swine flu."

What I liked about it: This is a really well-told tale about the fictitious town of Commonwealth, Washington that quarantined itself from other towns during the outbreak of the unusually virulent and deadly influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1. The 1918 influenza epidemic killed as many as 100 million people worldwide in one year. (The world's population at that time was about 1.6 billion.)

Interlaced within this main story line were other noteworthy topics of the time, including Americans both fighting and protesting World War I and the labor violence of the era. The character of Uncle Sam was born during this period as the U.S. government launched a propaganda campaign unprecedented in scale. Getting Americans to fight against the Germans was quite a task for President Woodrow Wilson when nearly one-quarter of Americans at that time were of German descent.

I thought the author did a fantastic job of developing the characters. It felt like I understood them and could relate to them. Each time I picked up this book I felt like I traveled back in time to 1918 and was there watching their struggles play out in front of me.

Many of you probably have similar stories, but my great-grandmother, Maria Gigliotti, died in October 1918 at the young age of 32 from the Spanish influenza. The story passed down from family members is that she was a nurse and contracted the flu while treating flu patients. After she died at the local Armory where patients were being cared for, her husband and my great-grandfather, Domenico, carried her body back to their home. Rest in peace, Maria and Domenico.

Book 41

End The Fed by Ron Paul

Type: Nonfiction, Federal Government

My rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Why I chose it: I was highly anticipating the release of End The Fed, which could be the single most important book for Americans to read in 2009. With the economic crisis in full swing this book gets to the very root cause of how the country got itself in this mess and how we can get out of it.

What I liked about it: I first heard about Ron Paul in October of 2007. Around that time I began to research extensively to try to find fault in some of the things I was hearing him say, such as, we should end the Federal Reserve and we should end the personal income tax. Almost two years later my education, mainly in the area of economics and money, has been greatly expanded because of Ron Paul.

This book articulates in a very readable way for the not-so-financially-literate how the Federal Reserve is at fault for the economic mess we are in today. The book provides the necessary context to understand that creating new money out of nothing devalues all the other money in circulation which causes those dollars to be worth less and for the price of things to increase. It is the inflation of the money supply that later shows up in rising prices. Our dollar today is worth less than 5 cents compared to the dollar in 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created. Some might say, so what? How does that effect me? The deliberate inflation of the money supply and devaluation of the dollar essentially removes one's ability to save dollars. They must invest those dollars in more risky investments in order to try to preserve the purchasing power of the dollar. If 50 years ago your grandfather had enough money to purchase a brand new car and he saved those dollars in a can and gave them to you, you would probably have just enough money to buy the rims and tires only. It is worse for older Americans who are on a fixed income. They see the purchasing power of their dollars decrease every year.

This book provides the philosophical, constitutional and economic reasons that the Fed should be abolished. It also contains a plan for the restoration of sound money. The Federal Reserve System is a cartel of very powerful bankers. This system will not be dismantled without a fight. Americans can play their part by first understanding why the Fed is not a benefit to them or their families.

If you are interested in understanding the mess the country is in today, I highly recommend you read this book. Here are a few excerpts from it.