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.